BIG TEN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DAILY UPDATE • JANUARY 3, 2021 Primary Contact: Chris Masters, Associate Director, Communications • Office: 847-696-1010, ext. 146 • Cell: 574-532-4166 • E-mail: [email protected] • Twitter: @B1GWBBall Secondary Contact: Leigh McGuirk, Bob Hammel Communications Intern • Office: 847-696-1010, ext. 142 • E-mail: [email protected] 2020-21 BIG TEN STANDINGS UPCOMING SCHEDULE Conference Games All Games Top Last Sunday, Jan. 3 W-LT PC H A Streak W-L PCT H A N 25* 10 Stk • #RV/RV IOWA at ILLINOIS (BTN+) .................2 p.m. Indiana 3-0 1.000 2-0 1-0 W3 5-2 .714 4-1 1-1 0-0 0-2 5-2 W3 • #25/RV MICHIGAN STATE at PURDUE (BTN+) .. 2 p.m. Michigan State 2-0 1.000 1-0 1-0 W2 7-0 1.000 6-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 7-0 W7 • MINNESOTA at WISCONSIN (BTN+) ..............3 p.m. Maryland 2-0 1.000 0-0 2-0 W2 6-1 .857 2-0 2-0 2-1 1-1 6-1 W5 • #RV/RV RUTGERS at NEBRASKA (BTN+) ........3 p.m. Michigan 1-0 1.000 1-0 0-0 W1 6-0 1.000 4-0 2-0 0-0 1-0 6-0 W6 • #16/17 MICHIGAN at #15/16 NORTHWESTERN (ESPN2) .. 5 p.m. Iowa 2-1 .667 2-0 0-1 W1 6-1 .857 5-0 1-1 0-0 1-0 6-1 W2 Monday, Jan. 4 Northwestern 2-1 .667 1-0 1-1 L1 4-1 .800 3-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 4-1 L1 • PENN STATE at #17/15 OHIO STATE (BTN) ....6 p.m. Purdue 2-1 .667 1-1 1-0 W2 5-2 .714 4-2 1-0 0-0 0-1 5-2 W2 • #20/18 INDIANA at #14/14 MARYLAND (ESPN2) .. 7 p.m. Nebraska 2-2 .500 2-0 0-2 W1 4-3 .571 4-0 0-3 0-0 1-1 4-3 W1 Rutgers 1-2 .333 0-1 1-1 L2 5-2 .714 4-1 1-1 0-0 0-1 5-2 L1 Tuesday, Jan. 5 Ohio State 0-0 — — — — 4-0 1.000 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 W4 No games scheduled Penn State 0-2 .000 0-2 0-0 L2 3-3 .500 3-2 0-1 0-0 0-2 3-3 L3 Wednesday, Jan. 6 Illinois 0-2 .000 0-0 0-2 L2 2-3 .400 2-1 0-2 0-0 0-1 2-3 L2 • #15/16 NORTHWESTERN at WISCONSIN (BTN) .. 4 p.m. Wisconsin 0-3 .000 0-1 0-2 L3 3-3 .500 3-1 0-2 0-0 0-1 3-3 L1 • MINNESOTA at #RV/RV IOWA (BTN+) ...........7 p.m. Minnesota 0-3 .000 0-2 0-1 L3 1-4 .200 1-3 0-1 0-0 0-2 1-4 L4 * - Associated Press or USA Today/WBCA polls Thursday, Jan. 7 • #14/14 MARYLAND at #25/RV MICHIGAN STATE (BTN) .. 5 p.m. • #17/15 OHIO STATE at ILLINOIS (BTN+) ........6 p.m. BIG TEN. BIG NEWS. • #20/18 INDIANA at PENN STATE (BTN+) .......6 p.m. • Sunday brings another full day of Big Ten women’s basketball action, with five conference games on • NEBRASKA at #16/17 MICHIGAN (BTN+) ......6 p.m. the schedule. The first four will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+, leading into the season debut • PURDUE at #RV/RV RUTGERS (BTN) .............7 p.m. for Big Ten women’s basketball on ESPN2 when two of the conference’s nation-leading six ranked teams square off as No. 16/17 Michigan visits No. 15/16 Northwestern (5 p.m. ET/also available on the Friday, Jan. 8 ESPN app). No games scheduled • Maryland’s Ashley Owusu and Rutgers’ Arella Guirantes both scored 34 points on New Year’s Eve, with All times Eastern (dates, times and TV subject to change) Owusu notching her career high in a win at Penn State and Guirantes reaching the mark in a narrow • - Big Ten Conference game loss at Iowa. Five Big Ten players have a total of eight 30-point games this season, including five games of at least 34 points, with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Michigan’s Naz Hillmon sharing the conference NOTES: BTN games also on the FOX Sports app, with Big Ten Net- season-high scoring mark of 35 points (Clark on Dec. 12 at Michigan State, Hillmon on Nov. 27 at work+ games at btnplus.com … Games on ESPN networks also Oakland). By comparison, no other conference in the country has featured more than three 34-point on the ESPN app. games this year (the NCAA statistics report only lists the top 30 scoring performances to date). Rankings from Associated Press/USA Today polls at tipoff (RV - • Nebraska’s Sam Haiby earned the top spot on the New Year’s Eve edition of ESPN SportsCenter’s “Top receiving votes/NR - not ranked; if only one rank is listed, it’s from Plays” for her game-winning basket as time expired in the Huskers’ 65-63 win over defending Big Ten the AP poll) co-champion Northwestern on Wednesday in Lincoln. It was the highest-ranked opponent Nebraska defeated since Dec. 3, 2014, when the Huskers downed No. 9/9 Duke, 60-54, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, also at Pinnacle Bank Arena. LATEST RESULTS • Nebraska senior center Kate Cain became the sixth Big Ten women’s basketball player to record 300 Thursday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve) career blocked shots with four rejections in the Dec. 31 win over Northwestern. Cain has 301 blocks in • #14/14 MARYLAND 96, at PENN STATE 82 her career and is the second conference player in as many years to reach that milestone, following • at #16/17 MICHIGAN 92, WISCONSIN 49 Purdue’s Ae’Rianna Harris, who finished with 380 blocks from 2017-20. • at #20/18 INDIANA 79, ILLINOIS 56 • According to Sunday’s NCAA statistical report, the Big Ten leads all Division I conferences in scoring • at NEBRASKA 65, #15/16 NORTHWESTERN 63 offense (79.0 ppg.), field-goal percentage (.459) and three-point percentage (.343) while ranking third • at #RV/RV IOWA 90, #RV/RV RUTGERS 84 overall/first among A5 conferences in free-throw percentage (.725). Wednesday, Dec. 23 • Six Big Ten teams currently rank among the top 25 in the country (including three in the top five and at #RV/RV RUTGERS 84, Manhattan 41 four in the top 10) in scoring offense. Maryland is No. 1 in the nation at 97.3 points per game, followed • #19/18 INDIANA 75, at MINNESOTA 54 by Ohio State (3rd - 96.2), Iowa (5th - 90.0), Michigan (8th - 88.5), Rutgers (16th - 85.7) and Michigan • at PURDUE 83, NEBRASKA 72 State (25th - 83.0). No other conference has more than four teams among the top 25 (let alone one in the top five or two in the top 10) in scoring offense, as of Sunday. Tuesday, Dec. 22 • Rutgers’ success on offense is particularly noteworthy, as the Scarlet Knights are challenging their at #25/RV MICHIGAN STATE 94, Oakland 56 school record for scoring offense (86.2 ppg. in 1978-79). RU has also scored at least 80 points in its last at #RV/RV IOWA 92, Western Illinois 65 five games, something the Scarlet Knights most recently did with a five-game stretch from Jan. 3-17, at #15/16 NORTHWESTERN 79, Eastern Kentucky 50 1991, five seasons before current Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer arrived in Piscataway. Sunday, Dec. 20 • The Big Ten has six programs among the nation’s top 25 (including four in the top 10 and five in the • PURDUE 91, at PENN STATE 87 top 15) in field-goal percentage. Ohio State is No. 1 in the nation (.556), followed by Michigan (3rd - at #RV/RV MICHIGAN STATE 82, Northern Illinois 70 .528), Iowa (7th - .507) and Maryland (9th - .500). Rutgers (14th - .493) and Michigan State (21st - .481) at WISCONSIN 89, Valparaiso 82 (OT) are also in the top 25 in field-goal percentage. No other conference currently has more than three • at #15/15 INDIANA 81, NEBRASKA 45 schools in the top 25 nationally (let alone one in the top 10 and two in the top 15) in field-goal percentage. at #RV/RV RUTGERS 99, Sacred Heart 30 • Four Big Ten schools lead the nation in a total of six NCAA statistical categories. Maryland is No. 1 in Saturday, Dec. 19 the country in scoring (97.3 ppg.), while Ohio State is tops in scoring margin (+40.8 ppg.), field-goal at #14/14 MARYLAND 101, James Madison 59 percentage (.556) and assist/turnover ratio (1.85), Rutgers leads the way in steals (16.1 spg.) and Northwestern is first in turnover margin (+14.80). • - Big Ten Conference game BIG LIFE. BIG STAGE. BIG TEN. The Big Ten Academic Alliance is an academic consortium of all 14 Big Ten universities, which is widely considered to be the model for effective and voluntary collaboration among top research universities. 2020-21 BIG TEN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DAILY UPDATE 2 BIG TEN. BIG NEWS. • For the second week in a row, the Big Ten has six Top 25 teams in the Manhattan (17 points/10 rebounds/11 assists). It marked the first time in Big Associated Press poll and five in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Ten women’s basketball history that triple-doubles were registered on back- (WBCA)/USA Today poll, plus others receiving votes, leading all conferences to-back days.