B1G Ten Women’s Weekly basketball report

Big Ten Weekly Release – Jan. 10

• Eight games are on the docket for the Big Ten Conference this weekend, each featuring at least one team that is ranked or receiving votes in this week’s national polls. A trio of contests will take place on national platforms, while the remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information).
• No. 8/7 Maryland hits the road Saturday to take on Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Iowa is set to host Indiana on Peacock at 3 p.m. ET Sunday before Penn State and No. 4/5 USC wrap up the weekend with an 8 p.m. ET outing in Los Angeles on BTN.
• Heading into the weekend, UCLA and USC sit atop the conference standings at 5-0. Ohio State has a 4-0 mark to join the top tier.
• The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List was released on Tuesday with Lucy Olsen (IOWA), Cotie McMahon (OSU), Lauren Betts (UCLA), Kiki Iriafen (USC) and JuJu Watkins (USC) representing the Big Ten. USC was one of five programs to have a pair of players on the list, which is made up of student-athletes chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2024-25 season thus far.
• Illinois claimed its second ranked win of the season with a 62-57 victory over No. 23 Iowa. The Hawkeyes hadn’t been held to 57 points or fewer since April 1, 2019.
• It came down to the wire in the first meeting between Oregon and Penn State in the history of both programs. Deja Kelly nailed a jumper with 4.1 seconds on the clock to lift the Ducks to victory, 63-61.
• No. 4/5 USC came out on top at No. 8/7 Maryland, 79-74, to snap the Terrapins’ previously unblemished 14-game win streak. The Trojans currently lead the Big Ten with four victories over ranked opponents this season.
• Ohio State handed Michigan its first home loss of the season after rallying a second-half comeback for an 84-77 win.
• With a 68-64 victory at Northwestern, Indiana notched the program’s 900th win.
• By defeating Purdue, 83-49, UCLA tied the program’s record for the best start to a season at 16-0.
• Nebraska knocked off No. 20/21 Michigan State, 85-80, for its first triumph over a ranked opponent this season.
• Through Friday, five players are averaging at least 20 points per game during conference play – USC’s JuJu Watkins (24.4 ppg), Washington’s Elle Ladine (22.0 ppg), Illinois’ Genesis Bryant (21.8 ppg), Rutgers’ Destiny Adams (21.4 ppg) and Penn State’s Gabby Elliott (20.8 ppg). On the boards, another quintet averages at least 10 rebounds per game – Illinois’ Kendall Bostic (11.6 rpg), Maryland’s Saylor Poffenbarger (11.4 rpg), Adams (11.0 rpg), Washington’s Dalayah Daniels (10.7 rpg) and Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (10.4 rpg). Adams is the only player averaging a double-double in conference action.
• UCLA’s Lauren Betts was tabbed as one of five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on Tuesday. She had consecutive double-doubles, starting with 13 points and 10 rebounds against then-No. 24 Michigan. She also added five assists, four blocks and two steals against the Wolverines. Betts followed up with 25 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal at Indiana to help UCLA remain undefeated.
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured seven teams from the Big Ten. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 4 USC, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 20 Michigan State, No. 23 Iowa and No. 25 Michigan. Minnesota and Washington received votes.
• The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured six Big Ten teams this week. UCLA stayed at No. 1, followed by No. 5 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 23 Iowa. Minnesota, Michigan and Nebraska garnered votes.
• The Big Ten leads all Division I conferences with 12 teams among the top 40 in the latest NET rankings, including six in the top 25 (which ranks second) – No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 USC, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 20 Maryland, No. 25 Michigan, No. 28 Minnesota, No. 31 Iowa, No. 34 Nebraska, No. 35 Oregon, No. 36 Illinois and No. 40 Indiana. The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is the primary sorting tool used by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for determining NCAA Tournament teams.
• There are only three undefeated Division I teams remaining, two of which reside in the Big Ten – UCLA (16-0) and Ohio State (15-0).
• Individually, the Big Ten has three players ranked in the top 15 in the nation in field goal percentage – Iowa’s Addison O’Grady (4th – 67.4), Penn State’s Gracie Merkle (7th – 65.1) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (13th – 61.6). USC’s JuJu Watkins is fourth in the country in total points (398) and third in points per game (24.9). Wisconsin’s Serah Williams is among the best nationally in rebounds per game (5th – 11.6) and blocks per game (4th – 2.81).
• Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has six teams averaging more than 80 points per game, all of which are included among the nation’s top 25 scoring offenses – Ohio State (9th – 86.2), USC (11th – 84.1), Michigan State (15th – 83.3), Maryland (16th – 83.1), UCLA (17th – 82.9) and Michigan (23rd – 80.6).
• In the latest Massey ratings, the Big Ten is second in the nation for the toughest strength of schedule among Division I conferences, overall strength, power rating, offensive power to score and strength of schedule for future games.
• The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in assists (16.5 apg) while standing second in field goal percentage (.451), points (75.5 ppg) and rebounds (39.9 rpg).
• The Big Ten has consistently ranked among the top three conferences in women’s basketball attendance for the past three decades and that trend has continued into the 2024-25 season. Currently, 14 Big Ten schools rank among the top 50 in the nation in average attendance, including nine in the top 25, with both figures leading all Division I conferences. Iowa is second nationally in attendance (14,998 fans per game), followed by Indiana (4th – 10,536), Maryland (8th – 8,551), Ohio State (13th – 5,653), Nebraska (16th – 5,146), Oregon (17th – 5,120), UCLA (18th – 5,051), Illinois (23rd – 4,889) and USC (24th – 4,873).
• Maryland junior Kaylene Smikle and USC sophomore JuJu Watkins were named Big Ten Co-Players of the Week on Monday. The awards included games from Dec. 23-Jan. 5. Smikle put together averages of 19.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 steals during three Terrapin wins, including a pair over ranked opponents. She went 15-for-17 from the free throw line during the stretch to pick up the first player of the week honor of her career. Watkins averaged 26.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks during USC’s trio of victories to secure her third weekly recognition. Over the three game span, she connected on 28 of her 31 attempts at the charity stripe for a 90.3 percent clip.
• Minnesota’s Tori McKinney earned the first weekly laurel of her career after being tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday. She posted a team-high 25 points while going 8-for-8 at the free throw line against Penn State. McKinney chipped in seven points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals versus Wisconsin and finished with 11 points, five boards and five assists against Illinois.
• The Big Ten stands second amongst all Division I conferences with 169 non-conference wins so far this season, followed by the ACC (159) and Big 12 (146).
• The Big Ten has faced numerous ranked non-conference opponents this season and has handed out its fair share of upsets – Oregon def. No. 12 Baylor, 76-74; Illinois def. No. 19 Florida State, 83-74; No. 18 Maryland def. No. 11 Duke, 85-80; Indiana def. No. 24 Stanford, 79-66; No. 5 UCLA def. No. 1 South Carolina, 77-62; Indiana def. No. 18 Baylor, 73-65; No. 21 Iowa def. No. 18 Iowa State, 75-69; No. 7 USC def. No. 4 UConn, 72-70.
• On Dec. 2, for the first time in the history of the Big Ten Conference, nine women’s basketball teams were ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll. The last time any conference had nine teams ranked in the AP poll was in 1996. UCLA remained in the top spot and was joined by No. 6 USC, No. 7 Maryland, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 21 Illinois, No. 23 Michigan, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 25 Nebraska.
• On Nov. 25, UCLA received 20 first-place votes to overtake South Carolina for the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press (AP) poll. The Bruins handed the Gamecocks their first loss of the season to earn the first No. 1 ranking in program history.
• DOWN GOES NO. 1! In front of a sellout crowd at Pauley Pavilion, No. 5 UCLA took down the defending national champions in No. 1 South Carolina, 77-62, on Nov. 24. The win marked the first victory for the Bruins over a number one ranked opponent in program history and snapped the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak. South Carolina hadn’t lost since falling to Iowa in the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament and it was the first road defeat for the Gamecocks since December 2021.
• Rutgers legend Cappie Pondexter was selected as one of seven inductees into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2025 class. Pondexter, who was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, led the Scarlet Knights to back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in 2005 and 2006. She was the first player to earn All-BIG EAST First Team laurels four times in the history of the league and ranks third in Rutgers history with 2,211 career points. Pondexter was the second overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She went on to win two WNBA titles with the Mercury, be named Finals MVP in 2007, earn seven All-Star appearances and win a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
• The new era of Big Ten women’s basketball got off to a hot start as programs won more than 87 percent of their games during the first week of the 2024-25 campaign. The stellar results included five wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including three upsets.
• The 2024-25 television schedule features the most coverage on nationally distributed platforms in Big Ten women’s basketball history. Twelve Big Ten matchups, including eight regular season games, will be televised on a broadcast platform via NBC or FOX, the most in conference history. All 162 conference games will be nationally produced or distributed for the 11th consecutive season.
• The 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament is set for March 5-9 inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This will mark the 26th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis since the event began in 1982. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field. Peacock will televise the opening three games on Wednesday, with second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday slated for the Big Ten Network. CBS will broadcast Sunday’s championship game for the second year in a row.