Big Ten Weekly Women’s Basketball Central – Jan. 27-Feb. 2
Big Ten. Big News.
• Nine of the Big Ten’s 17 games will be featured on national platforms this week, while the remaining games will be streamed live on B1G+ (visit bigtenplus.com for more information). One top-25 matchup is slated to stream on B1G+ Wednesday when No. 25/24 Washington visits No. 16 Maryland at 7 p.m. ET. A top-15 showdown is set for Sunday at noon ET on FS1 when in-state rivals No. 9 Michigan and No. 13 Michigan State face off in East Lansing. No. 2 UCLA hosts No. 8 Iowa in a top-10 clash at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
• Four Big Ten student-athletes were named to the 2026 Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year Presented by MOLECULE Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Tuesday. UCLA’s Lauren Betts, the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, is joined by Michigan State’s Rashunda Jones, Ohio State’s Kennedy Cambridge and USC’s Jazzy Davidson.
• With half of the conference slate in the books, Iowa and UCLA share possession of the top spot in the conference standings with both teams sitting at 9-0. Michigan has an 8-1 mark, followed by Michigan State and Ohio State with 7-2 records.
• Iowa sophomore Ava Heiden earned her first Big Ten Player of the Week laurel on Monday after she led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds at No. 15 Maryland. She shot 81.8 percent from the field for 18 points with eight rebounds and a career-high four steals versus No. 12 Ohio State.
• Illinois’ Cearah Parchment and Iowa’s Addie Deal were named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday. Parchment turned in a career-high 25 points along with 11 rebounds at No. 24 Nebraska. She went 10-for-17 from the floor and picked up her sixth double-double of the season. Deal tallied 20 points, five assists and three rebounds against No. 12 Ohio State. Her 20-point performance was the most by a Hawkeye freshman against a Big Ten opponent since 2021.
• Iowa, which rose two spots to No. 8 in the AP poll, was selected as the USBWA’s Team of the Week on Tuesday. The Hawkeyes are 9-0 in conference play and off to their best start since 1995-96 when they went 12-0 to begin league action. Iowa picked up a pair of ranked wins over No. 15 Maryland and No. 12 Ohio State.
• The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in assists (16.9 apg), field goal percentage (.456), three-point field goal percentage (.342) and free throw percentage (.734), while ranking second in scoring (76.4 ppg).
• Through games on Jan. 26, the Big Ten boasts 10 teams in the top 25 and 12 in the top 50 of the NCAA’s NET Rankings, the top marks among all conferences. UCLA paces the Big Ten contingent at No. 2, followed by No. 6 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 10 Iowa, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 16 Maryland, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 22 Nebraska, No. 23 USC, No. 25 Oregon, No. 29 Washington and No. 35 Illinois.
• Through Monday’s contests, Big Ten teams have combined to win 43 Quad 1 games, the most among Division I conferences, with 10 teams posting at least two Quad 1 wins. UCLA leads the country with 10 Quad 1 victories and the Big Ten is the only conference that has five teams with at least four Quad 1 wins.
• Every day is a battle as the Big Ten has 10 teams in the top 25 for NET strength of schedule – USC (1st), UCLA (2nd), Penn State (3rd), Iowa (7th), Indiana (9th), Michigan (10th), Purdue (16th), Minnesota (19th), Northwestern (23rd) and Rutgers (25th).
• This week’s Associated Press (AP) poll featured seven teams from the Big Ten. UCLA moved up to No. 2 and was joined by No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 16 Maryland and No. 25 Washington. Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois received votes.
• The same seven programs made an appearance in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll – No. 2 UCLA, No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 16 Maryland and No. 24 Washington. Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois garnered votes.
• Illinois currently leads the nation shooting 83.2 percent from the free throw line while UCLA ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (1.76), assists per game (22.7) and rebound margin (15.8).
• The Big Ten has multiple individuals leading the country in statistical categories, including Northwestern’s Carolina Lau with 9.1 assists per game and Penn State’s Gracie Merkle in field goal percentage (.742).
• Five of the nation’s best long-range shooters reside in the Big Ten. Iowa’s Chit-Chat Wright leads the pack (2nd – .482), followed by Minnesota’s Grace Grocholski (3rd – .477), UCLA’s Gianna Kneepkens (4th – .473), Indiana’s Shay Ciezki (10th – .458) and Michigan State’s Emma Shumate (18th – .427).
• Offensive production continues to be the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has eight teams ranked in the top 25 in field goal percentage – UCLA (3rd – .516), Iowa (7th – .494), Nebraska (8th – .494), Michigan State (9th – .493), Michigan (14th – .473), Indiana (19th – .469), Maryland (22nd – .467) and Oregon (23rd – .465).
• Sharing the rock comes naturally for the Big Ten with eight teams featured in the top 25 rankings for assists per game, including five in the top 15 – UCLA (2nd – 22.7), Iowa (3rd – 21.3), Nebraska (10th – 18.9), Michigan State (11th – 18.8), Ohio State (13th – 18.7), Northwestern (19th – 18.4), Oregon (21st – 18.1) and Michigan (24th – 17.7).
• Head coach Kim Barnes Arico reached 300 career wins at the helm for Michigan in a 94-60 triumph over Rutgers. She is the first basketball coach in school history to reach 300 wins in Ann Arbor.
• For the first time since 2016, the Barn Burner Trophy returned to West Lafayette after Purdue bested in-state foe Indiana, 80-69. The win was the 300th of head coach Katie Gearlds’ career.
• HISTORY. MADE. The Big Ten is the first conference to ever have nine teams ranked in three different Associated Press (AP) polls in a single season – Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. The Big Ten has had nine programs ranked in the AP poll four times, first achieved on Dec. 2, 2024, and is the only conference to have nine ranked teams since 1996.
• The Big Ten had a 170-33 (.837) combined record in non-conference play this season, which ranked second behind the SEC (197-24, .891) and ahead of the Big 12 (156-39, .800) and ACC (144-72, .667).
• HISTORY. MADE. The Big Ten is the first conference to ever have nine teams ranked in three different Associated Press (AP) polls in a single season – Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. The Big Ten has had nine programs ranked in the AP poll four times, first achieved on Dec. 2, 2024, and is the only conference to have nine ranked teams since 1996.
• Big Ten Conference Deputy Commissioner and Michigan women’s basketball great Diane Dietz was honored Jan. 11 with the lifting of her No. 21 jersey into the rafters at the Crisler Center. Dietz, who competed in Maize and Blue from 1979-82, was the program’s first 2,000-point scorer, a record that stood for more than 30 years. She still ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 2,076 points, a feat she achieved before the addition of the three-point line to the women’s game. Dietz is also second all-time in 30-point games (11) and in field goals made (940) and is only one of two players with at least 900 makes. She graduated as the Wolverines’ all-time leader in steals (229), a mark that currently ranks fourth in program history. Dietz was also a standout in the classroom and is one of only two Michigan student-athletes to have been inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2009). The three-time Academic All-American was the first female recipient of the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1982, which is considered the most prestigious honor a Big Ten student-athlete can receive. Dietz was inducted into the Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame after her induction in 2019.
• The 2025-26 season will be the final ride for storied Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown, who announced on March 24 that he intends to retire at the conclusion of season. McKeown is the longest-tenured and winningest head women’s basketball coach in Northwestern history. This is his 18th season in Evanston and his 40th season overall as a head coach.
• Each Big Ten institution will play an 18-game conference schedule for the seventh time in eight seasons. During the conference season, each program will play one school both home and away, while facing 16 teams once. Of the single-play opponents, institutions will face eight at home and eight on the road.
• The 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament is set for March 4-8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, marking the 27th time the tournament will be played in Circle City. Fifteen teams will qualify for the tournament, with three first-round games slated for Wednesday, March 4 on Peacock. The second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal contests on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be carried on the Big Ten Network. CBS will broadcast the championship game for the third year in a row on Sunday.