Jan. 2, 2006
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Indiana and Purdue Begin 2-0; Meet Thursday
Two Big Ten teams got through the first week of conference play with a pair of wins, but only one of them will remain unbeaten on Friday. Rivals Indiana and Purdue will take to the court in the first of their two in-state battles on Thursday, when the Boilermakers visit the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall. Indiana has not begun Big Ten play 2-0 since the 2001-02 season, while Purdue has not started undefeated since 2000-01.
Another story angle surrounding the matchup will be Indiana head coach Sharon Versyp squaring up against the team that made her an All-Big Ten standout. While playing at Purdue from 1985-88, she became one of seven players in Boilermaker history to be a four-year starter. During her playing career, she competed in the 1985 U.S. Olympic Festival Trials, was an All-Big Ten selection in 1988 and earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors that same season. Her 1,565 career points still rank ninth in the Purdue record books. She also sits at fourth in single game assists (12) and seventh in career assists (418).
CBS to Air Regional Big Ten Coverage
Big Ten basketball hits the national scene on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 7, when Michigan State and Minnesota will be broadcast in their respective games on CBS. Portions of the national viewing audience will see Rutgers face Michigan State at noon ET, while another section of the country will watch Minnesota at LSU at 11 a.m. CT.
Also on the Small Screen...
In addition to the two CBS games this week, Big Ten women's basketball will also be televised nationally on CSTV. On Thursday, CSTV will air live coverage of Penn State at Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET. While it won't be national television, Penn State returns to the small screen on Sunday as the Lady Lions will host Wisconsin on WPSU at 2 p.m. ET.
Four Big Ten Teams Ranked in Nation's Top 25
Four conference squads were ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls this past week. Ohio State was 7th and 6th in the polls, respectively, while Michigan State was ranked No. 10/12. Minnesota was 15th in the polls, while No. 18/17 Purdue rounded out the Big Ten contingent.
NCAA National Notables
Several Big Ten student-athletes and teams were nationally ranked in many categories as of Dec. 20, which are listed on page five. Penn State's Adrienne Squire ranked first (1.000) in free-throw percentage, followed by Indiana's Cyndi Valentin in seventh at .957. Ohio State's Kim Wilburn was fifth in steals at 4.1. OSU also led in scoring defense (46.0) and was third in turnovers per game (11.6).
The Squire/Valentin Attention Turning National
Penn State's Adrienne Squire and Indiana's Cyndi Valentin have their eyes on the prize. Both Big Ten standouts have school-record consecutive free-throw streaks and are now closing in on the NCAA Division I career record of 66, set by Richmond's Ginny Doyle from 1991-92. Squire (57) and Valentin (52) extended their streaks this past Sunday when the Hoosiers met the Lady Lions in State College. Squire, a sophomore, made all 10 attempts last year and has been successful on all 47 free throws over 13 games this year. Valentin, who is actually 68-of-70 from the line this year, could break Doyle's single-season mark of 60, which was set in 1992, as she has hit her last 52.
The all-time NCAA women's basketball career mark is 69, set by Jamie Visness in 2002-03 of Division III Concord-Moorhead. The all-time NCAA single-season mark of 61 was set by Valerie Kepner of Division III Baldwin-Wallace during the 1988-89 season.
Earlier in the year, Squire broke the previous Penn State record of 42, set by current assistant coach Susan Robinson, while just this past week, Valentin broke her own school record of 48. The Hoosier senior is also the Big Ten single-season record holder in free-throw percentage at .925, having made 99-of-107 in 2003-04.
Season-Best Free-Throw Highs Set
This past week, Michigan State and Indiana combined to set the two best free-throw percentages this season. With a 10-for-10 performance against Central Michigan on Dec. 30, the Spartans claimed the season-high with a perfect 1.000 percentage. In the Big Ten opener against Iowa, the Hoosiers hit on 17 of their 18 attempts for an average of .944, good for second-best this year.
International Flavor
With Purdue's Aya Traore being tabbed Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday, the Boilermakers have now had their last two weekly honorees hail from outside the United States. Traore, a native of Dakar, Senegal, became the first Purdue player to earn the award since current teammate Natasha Bogdanova of Toronto, Ontario was selected on Nov. 22, 2004.
In fact, eight Big Ten student-athletes on the 2005-06 rosters have international roots. Purdue is also the only team with multiple players from outside the country. A complete list is below:
Name, School (Pos., Yr., Hometown)
Sarah McKay, IND (C, Jr., Victoria, British Columbia)
Stephany Skrba, MICH (C/F, Fr., Richmond Hill, Ontario)
Alisa Wulff, MSU (G, So., Pickering, Ontario)
A.J. Glasauer, NU (G/F, Jr., Freiburg, Germany)
Alice Jamen, OSU (C/F, So., Cameroon, Africa)
Romana Vynuchalova, PSU (F/C, So., Bratislava, Slovakia)
Natasha Bogdanova, PUR (F, So., Toronto, Ontario)
Aya Traore, PUR (F, Sr., Dakar, Senegal)
Packer Packing on the Stats from the Perimeter
Ohio State's Marscilla Packer currently holds a significant lead over other league long-distance shooters in three-point field goal percentage. The Buckeye sophomore is shooting .490 (25-of-51) from beyond the arc, followed by Michigan's Janelle Cooper at .422. Packer's mark is well ahead of the Big Ten single-season record of .464, posted by Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen (77-166) in 2002-03.
In fact, Packer's career three-point percentage of .407 (44-108) ranks third all-time in league history behind Bowen (.420, 256-609, 2002-Pres.) and former Buckeye Caity Matter (.411, 270-657, 2001-05).
In addition, Packer's perimeter performance last week at Purdue was also one to make note of. By hitting 5-of-6 (.833) from downtown, Packer set a Big Ten season-high three-point percentage, which also tied four other league standouts for sixth all-time in conference history. Packer is the first Big Ten shooter to hit .833 from beyond the arc since Wisconsin's Kyle Black hit 5-of-6 against Pittsburgh on Nov. 30, 2001.
Things That Were Worked On in Offeseason
Two Big Ten squads have dramatically improved their averages from the perimeter. Iowa currently ranks first in both three-point field goal percentage and percentage defense. The Hawkeyes are shooting .372 from beyond the arc, while limiting their opponents to just .250. Iowa's perimeter defense has improved a great deal in just one season, as the Hawkeyes ranked 10th last year, allowing their opponents a 36 percent success rate from downtown. Illinois, which ranks fourth in three-point field goal percentage at .345, ranked 11th in 2004-05 at .278.
Hot Shooting Continues
In 2004-05, Ohio State's Brandie Hoskins led the league in overall games with a field goal percentage of .596. This season, three Big Ten standouts rank above Hoskins' mark from a year ago. Ohio State's Jessica Davenport leads the conference with a .630 average, while Penn State's Amanda Brown (.627) and Michigan State's Liz Shimek (.602) all rate better than the league's best mark last year.
Stealing Her Way Toward a Big Ten Record
With 19 steals over the last four games, Ohio State's Kim Wilburn has 315 career steals and is one of 11 Big Ten players to eclipse 300. Michigan's Stacey Thomas (`96-00) holds the record of 372, while other notables include Kristin Haynie (MSU, `01-05) in third at 346 and OSU school-record holder Yvette Angel (1981-85) in sixth at 326.
Spartan Steals
Michigan State tried its best to capture the season-high mark for steals, but came up one snatch short on two occasions this past week. The Spartans posted 19 steals against Central Michigan on Dec. 30 and 19 versus Michigan on Jan. 1, which are the second-best marks for the 2005-06 season. Illinois owns the season-high with 20 against Loyola (Chicago) on Nov. 18.
Dishing Out Props to the Underclassmen
No one can argue that they are not learning fast enough the importance of sharing. The top three Big Ten assists leaders are currently underclassmen, led by Penn State freshman Brianne O'Rourke at 5.85 per game. Wisconsin sophomore Janese Banks (4.62) ranks second, while Northwestern sophomore Nadia Bibbs (4.50) ranks third.
Senior Scoring
Three seniors currently sit atop the scoring rankings in the Big Ten, led by Iowa's Crystal Smith at 20.2 points per contest. Michigan State's Liz Shimek is averaging 19.8, while Indiana's Cyndi Valentin has scored an average of 17.8 points over 13 games this year.
