Jan. 9, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Trio of Big Ten Squads in Action Monday
Depending on how one looks at it, Big Ten action concludes or begins Monday as two conference games will take place on the rare night. Due to their nationally-televised games on CBS Saturday, Michigan State and Minnesota were granted an extra day of rest as league contests usually take place on Thursdays and Sundays. The No. 11/13 Spartans will travel to Iowa, while the No. 15/15 Golden Gophers play at Indiana. In another non-conference top 25 battle, No. 10/10 Ohio State hosts No. 18/16 Oklahoma, a team that has already fallen to conference squads Illinois (86-75) and Michigan State (80-60).
Three Teams Remain Unbeaten in League Play
While Michigan State and Minnesota each battle Monday for a 3-0 start in league play, Purdue has opened the conference season with a 4-0 mark, leaving the three teams above as the only undefeated squads in Big Ten play.
Boilers Back
After picking up two road wins last week at Indiana and Michigan, Purdue is a perfect 4-0 in league play. It's apparent that the Boilermakers have improved off their 17-13 NCAA-bid season from a year ago. Winners of eight straight this season, Purdue peaked at a three-game winning streak last year and never won more than two Big Ten contests consecutively. The Boilermakers have also won 12 games in 14 tries, where a year ago, they needed 20 games to reach 12 wins and 22 to notch 13. Purdue will allow the rest of the league to catch up this week as the Boilermakers have just one game scheduled. They will play at Minnesota on Thursday, where they has not won since Jan. 25, 2001.
Four Big Ten Teams Ranked in Nation's Top 15
Four conference squads were ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls this past week. Ohio State was 10th in both polls, Michigan State was ranked No. 11/13 and Purdue and Minnesota were ranked 14th and 15th in each poll, respectively. With four teams ranks in the top 15, the Big Ten and the Big East have the largest representation of any conference in the country.
NCAA National Notables
Several Big Ten student-athletes and teams were nationally ranked in many categories as of Jan. 2, 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 fourth at .971. Ohio State's Kim Wilburn was third in steals at 4.4. OSU was also fourth in scoring defense (48.5) and fouls per game (13.1).
Big Ten Televised Nationally, Regionally, Locally
This week, five Big Ten contests and one non-conference matchup will be televised on the small screen to national, regional and local audiences. On Monday, ESPN2 will be in Columbus to broadcast a top 25 battle between No. 18/16 Oklahoma and No. 10/10 Ohio State. Three conference contests will be aired on Thursday, including Purdue at Minnesota on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The top 15 battle will pit the No. 14/14 Boilermakers against the No. 15/15 Golden Gophers. Also on Thursday, FSN North and WPT (Madison) will broadcast Michigan State at Wisconsin, while KCRG will locally air Ohio State at Iowa. On Sunday, two league games will be televised regionally. Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Comcast Local Detroit will cover Michigan State at Minnesota, while FSN North will carry Illinois at Wisconsin.
New Faces and Voices Supporting Big Ten Hoops
With a pair of Big Ten games on Comcast SportsNet Chicago this week, two new faces will add to the coverage of the conference's women's basketball television package. On Thursday, former Michigan State standout Greg Kelser, a member of the Spartans' 1979 NCAA Championship team, will serve as analyst alongside Dave Loane in Minnesota as the Golden Gophers host Purdue. On Sunday, Dave Eanet returns to the play-by-play chair and will broadcast Michigan State at Minnesota with new analyst Suzie McConnell Serio. The current head coach for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx was also a former All-American under Rene Portland at Penn State.
All Eyes Now On Indiana's Valentin
The drop of a pin will be able to be heard Monday night when Indiana's Cyndi Valentin goes to the free-throw line. Not just because it is her home arena, but because she has the opportunity to break the NCAA Division I single-season record for consecutive free throws. Valentin, a senior who is actually 72-of-74 from the line this year, could break Richmond's Ginny Doyle's single-season mark of 60, which was set in 1992, as she has hit her last 56. The all-time NCAA single-season mark of 61 was set by Valerie Kepner of Division III Baldwin-Wallace during the 1988-89 season.
Doyle is also the record holder for career consecutive free throws, as she hit an NCAA Division I mark of 66 from 1991-92. The all-time NCAA women's basketball career mark is 69, set by Jamie Visness in 2002-03 of Division III Concord-Moorhead.
Penn State's Adrienne Squire entered last weekend's action with 57 consecutive free throws over the past two years as she was 10-of-10 last season and 47-of-47 in 2005-06. Her streak came to an end when her fourth attempt on Sunday against Wisconsin bounced out. Squire made 60 straight free throws and is now 60 out of 61 for her career.
Earlier in the year, Squire broke the previous Penn State record of 42, set by current assistant coach Susan Robinson, while just two weeks ago, 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.
All-Game Scoring at Three-Year High
For the first time in three years, the Big Ten's overall scoring average is hovering above the 68-point mark. Currently, all 11 teams are averaging a combined 68.3 points per game, up from the 65.2 mark in 2004-05 and 65.4 in 2003-04. In 2002-03, the Big Ten's final scoring average for all games was 68.5. Last year, Ohio State led the conference with an overall scoring mark of 72.6 points per game. This season, three teams rank above the average in Ohio State (74.8), Iowa (74.7) and Michigan State (72.9).
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 .464 (26-of-56) from beyond the arc, followed by Minnesota's Shannon Schonrock at .419. Packer's mark currently ties 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 .398 (45-113) ranks seventh all-time in league history.
Another Buckeye Swiping at a Big Ten Record
With 24 steals over the last five games, Ohio State's Kim Wilburn has 320 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.
The Two for Turnovers
Ohio State and Purdue hold a commanding advantage over the rest of the league teams in turnover margin as both the Buckeyes and the Boilermakers are hounding their opponents this season. OSU leads the conference with a +9.25 turnover margin, having caused 272, while only committing 161. Purdue has made 228 turnovers, but has caused 289 for a margin of +4.36. Five other Big Ten schools currently post a positive margin, however the closest team to the top two is Michigan State at +1.47.
Speaking of the Spartans
With a 73-71 win over No. 8/8 Rutgers on Saturday, Michigan State extended its home-court winning streak to 22 games and won its six straight against ranked opponents in the Breslin Center. Despite a noon start on an icy Saturday afternoon, 9,051 fans watched the Spartans victory, which marked the fifth largest attendance in MSU women's basketball history.
Joining the 1,500-Point Club
This past weekend, Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen became the fourth Spartan to ever reach the 1,500-point plateau for her career and now has 1,517 points, just 151 shy of Kisha Kelley's school record of 1,668. Bowen's teammate, Liz Shimek, is also filling out her membership papers for the club, as the senior currently sits at 1,481 points for her career. Shimek, who averages 19.9 points per game, could eclipse the mark tonight joining Bowen and Ohio State's Debbie Merrill as the only active members of the 1,500-point club.
Joining Another Club
Minnesota senior Shannon Schonrock is one three-point field goal shy of 200 for her career and 16 baskets away from matching the school record.
