Five Big Ten Women’s teams separated by one game heading into final week

• Five teams are separated by one game in the Big Ten standings and all five remain in contention to earn the conference title entering the final week of the regular season. Nearly half (6) of the remaining 13 games on the Big Ten regular-season schedule will be televised nationally, including a Thursday doubleheader on Big Ten Network (Michigan State at No. 6/5 Michigan – 6 p.m. ET; No. 21/22 Iowa at Rutgers – 8 p.m. ET), another BTN broadcast Friday (No. 10/10 Indiana at No. 13/13 Maryland – 8 p.m. ET) and three on Sunday — two on BTN (No. 17/17 Ohio State at Michigan State – 2:30 p.m. ET; Northwestern at Nebraska – 4:30 p.m. ET) and another on ESPN2 (No. 6/5 Michigan at No. 21/22 Iowa – 4 p.m. ET).
• All 14 Big Ten programs will compete at this year’s Big Ten Tournament presented by TIAA, which will be played March 2-6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The tournament bracket will be announced Sunday night following the completion of all regular season games, while all-session and single-session tickets for the tournament may be purchased through school ticket offices, as well as the Gainbridge Fieldhouse box office or online at Ticketmaster.com. Media members should contact Chris Masters in the Big Ten Communications office to gather details on applying for credentials (the deadline to apply is this Friday, Feb. 25). For more on this year’s tournament, visit the official Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament web site at bigten.org/WBBT.
• Over the weekend, Iowa recorded back-to-back wins over a top-10 opponent (Indiana) for the first time since March 25-27, 1993, when it defeated No. 7 Auburn and No. 2 Tennessee in the NCAA Mideast Regional to advance to the program’s first NCAA Final Four. The first of last week’s two top-10 wins occurred Feb. 19 when Indiana was No. 5/6 in the polls, marking the Hawkeyes’ first road win over an Associated Press top-five opponent in nearly 30 years (Dec. 6, 1992, a 53-50 victory at No. 4 Maryland). Iowa is among nine Big Ten teams with at least one ranked win this year and the fifth to collect a top-five victory (the others being Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Northwestern).
• Michigan picked up its eighth win in nine tries against a Top 25 team this season with its 71-59 victory over No. 13/13 Maryland on Sunday at Crisler Center. The win completed the first regular season sweep for the Wolverines against the Terrapins and it moved Michigan back into first place in the Big Ten standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
• Both Nebraska and Ohio State registered their 20th wins of the season on Sunday with victories over Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively. For Nebraska, it’s the most wins in a season for the Huskers since posting a 21-11 record in 2017-18 (the last time Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Tournament), while the Buckeyes reached the 20-win mark for the sixth time in head coach Kevin McGuff’s nine-year tenure.
• Northwestern senior guard Veronica Burton recorded a career-high nine steals (as part of a near triple-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 assists) in Sunday’s win at Illinois. It was the second-most by a Big Ten player this year (Penn State’s Makenna Marisa had 10 thefts on Nov. 16 against Delaware State) and it moved Burton into sole possession of second place on the Big Ten career steals chart (381) behing only former NU guard and conference record holder Ashley Deary (429 from 2014-17).
• Indiana set a Big Ten record with 42 points in the fourth quarter of its 96-91 loss to No. 22/25 Iowa on Feb. 19. The Hoosiers eclipsed the previous record of 41 points in a period, set twice by Maryland last season (vs. Arkansas on Nov. 29, 2020; vs. Iowa on Feb. 23, 2021). The 187 combined points in Saturday’s game were also the second-most in a Big Ten contest this season, topped only by the 188 points in Michigan’s 98-90 win over Iowa on Feb. 6 in Ann Arbor.
• Michigan was the No. 5 national seed and Indiana was the No. 8 national seed in the second of three NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee regular-season top-16 seed reveals on Feb. 10. Both teams had also appeared in the first reveal back on Jan. 27, when Indiana was No. 6 and Michigan was No. 9. The last of the three regular-season top-16 seed reveals is slated for Feb. 28 before the official 68-team NCAA Tournament field is unveiled on Selection Sunday, March 13 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).
• The Big Ten is among the national conference leaders with six teams in the top 35 (and five of the top 25) in Wednesday’s NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings. Michigan leads the Big Ten contingent at No. 14, followed by No. 15 Maryland, No. 19 Indiana, No. 20 Nebraska, No. 21 Iowa and No. 32 Ohio State.
• The Big Ten ranks among the national leaders with five teams in the Top 25 in both of the latest major national polls. No. 6/5 Michigan leads the way, followed by No. 10/10 Indiana, No. 13/13 Maryland, No. 17/17 Ohio State and No. 21/22 Iowa. Nebraska is also receiving votes in the current coaches’ poll.
• With Michigan’s No. 4 ranking earlier this month, this became the second season in Big Ten women’s basketball history (first in nearly 30 years) the conference has had three top-five teams in the same campaign. In 1992-93, Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State were all in the top five at some point, with the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes reaching the NCAA Final Four (and OSU playing for the national title).
• As of Wednesday, 20 NCAA Division I players are averaging 20 points per game this season, and six of those play in the Big Ten. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark leads the country in scoring (26.9 ppg.), with Penn State’s Makenna Marisa currently seventh (22.8 ppg.). Michigan’s Naz Hillmon is 12th (20.9 ppg.), Iowa’s Monika Czinano is 13th (20.7 ppg.), Michigan State’s Nia Clouden is 15th (20.4 ppg.), and Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon is 17th (20.2 ppg.). No other conference has more than half that many 20-point scorers this season (the MAC is next with three).
• The Big Ten has four of the nation’s top 10 scoring offenses (and two of the five teams in the country currently averaging better than 80 ppg.) — Iowa (3rd – 84.6 ppg.), Ohio State (4th – 80.8 ppg.), Maryland (6th – 79.5 ppg.) and Nebraska (9th – 78.7 ppg.). Only one other conference has multiple schools among the nation’s top 10 scoring offenses (the Sun Belt has two).
• When it comes to shooting percentages, the Big Ten also sets the pace. Iowa is first at .498, leading four conference schools in the top 20 in that category (Ohio State is sixth at .470, Michigan is 12th at .458, Indiana is 17th at .455) — no other conference has more than two in the top 20 (the ACC, BIG EAST and OVC each have two). OSU also is the national leader in three-point percentage (.397), while Iowa is tops in free-throw percentage (.847).
• The Big Ten leads all conferences in scoring (71.0 ppg.), field-goal percentage (.434) and three-point field-goal percentage (.340), while ranking second in free throw percentage (.736; tops among Autonomy Five conferences), with the latter fueled by Iowa’s nation-leading .847 mark from the stripe. Iowa’s free-throw percentage is on pace to break the Division I record set last year by Milwaukee (.838) and would surpass the Big Ten record the Hawkeyes set last year (.800).
• The Big Ten leads the nation with five teams in the top 25 and 10 in the top 35 of Wednesday’s NCAA attendance report. Iowa is the top Big Ten team at No. 9 (6,857 fans/game), followed by Maryland (11th – 4,967), Nebraska (19th – 4,380) and Indiana (20th – 4,257). Michigan State is 25th (3,515), with Ohio State at No. 27 (3,251), Purdue at No. 28 (3,192), Minnesota 29th (3,184), Michigan at No. 30 (3,178) and Wisconsin 34th (2,898). In addition, the Feb. 14 Maryland at Iowa game drew a Big Ten season-high 9,820 fans.
• The Big Ten led all Division I conferences with seven student-athletes earning Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it was announced Feb. 17. Michigan had four of the seven Big Ten honorees — Leigha Brown, Emily Kiser, Maddie Nolan and Danielle Rauch — with the other conference selections being Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Northwestern’s Veronica Burton and Penn State’s Makenna Marisa.
• On Feb. 18, Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen was announced as one of 11 finalists for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Whalen, a four-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist who also led the Gophers to the 2004 NCAA Final Four, is appearing on the final Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. She is aiming to become the third Big Ten women’s basketball representative in the Hall of Fame, along with current Rutgers/former Iowa head coach C. Vivian Stringer (Class of 2009) and former Ohio State All-American Katie Smith (Class of 2018). This year’s Hall of Fame class will be announced April 2 at the NCAA Men’s Final Four in New Orleans.
• Former Nebraska head coach Paul Sanderford has been named to the eight-person Class of 2022 for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Sanderford, who will be enshrined in the Hall on June 11 in Knoxville, Tenn., coached the Huskers to an 88-69 record and three NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons (1998-2002). He will be the 14th person with Big Ten ties to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame since its opening in 1999, joining a group that includes current Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer (Class of 2001), current Illinois head coach Nancy Fahey (Class of 2011) and the most recent Big Ten inductee, former Ohio State All-American Katie Smith (Class of 2018).
• Five Big Ten alums played key roles in the United States, Canada and Nigeria advancing to the FIBA World Cup (Sept. 22-Oct. 1 in Sydney, Australia) following FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournaments this weekend in Washington, D.C. (USA), Osaka, Japan (Canada) and Belgrade, Serbia (Nigeria). Maryland graduates Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas joined Ohio State graduate Kelsey Mitchell in pacing the United States to wins over Belgium and Puerto Rico. Michigan State graduate Shay Colley was an important contributor to Canada’s win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and its OT loss to host Japan, while Northwestern graduate Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah was part of Nigeria’s qualifying team that defeated France and Mali.

2021-22 Women’s Basketball Standings