Feb. 14, 2005
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Full Week of Women's Basketball Scheduled
This week's Big Ten Women's Basketball schedule will be a full slate of action, beginning with Northwestern traveling to Illinois on Wednesday. Indiana will host non-conference opponent Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Thursday, while eight League teams will battle in intraconference play. Iowa travels to Michigan for a rare Saturday game, which precedes four Conference games scheduled for Sunday. No. 2 Ohio State will look to hang on to first place in the League standings with a home game against Minnesota on Thursday and then a road test at Michigan State on Sunday.
FSN to Broadcast Penn State/Ohio State as Wildcard
The Big Ten Conference and FSN Chicago announced Monday the selection of the Penn State at Ohio State matchup as its February 27th "Wildcard" game. The game, which could potentially decide a share of or the outright Big Ten Championship, will air tape-delay at 9 p.m. CT on FSN Chicago and at 10 pm. ET on FSN Ohio. The final regular season game will also be replayed at noon on FSN Chicago, Detroit and North.
XM Radio to Broadcast Three Big Ten Games This Week
For the first time this season, XM Satellite Radio will carry coverage of Big Ten women's basketball games. Thursday's Michigan State at Iowa game will air on XM 187 with pre-game starting at 6:45 p.m. ET. Sunday's Northwestern at Penn State game will air at 1 p.m. ET on XM 188, while Wisconsin at Minnesota will air at 1:15 p.m. ET on XM 186. The coverage will be that of the host schools' broadcast.
Big Ten Lands Four Teams in AP Top 25 Poll
In last week's national polls (AP / USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll), the Big Ten had four teams represented in the Associated Press poll, while three squads were ranked by the Coaches. Ohio State was No. 2/3 - its highest ranking in school history. Michigan State was No. 9/9 and Minnesota was No. 12/13. Penn State was ranked No. 25 by the AP and was receiving votes in the Coaches poll, while Iowa and Purdue were receiving votes in both polls.
Four League Squads Rank Among Nation's Top 20 RPI
In the latest WBCA/Summerville RPI Ratings, the Big Ten ranks third in Conference RPI average (.580) and fifth in overall RPI (.582), while four League teams rank among the nation's top 20. Ohio State holds an overall RPI rating of .649, which is fifth best in the nation, followed by No. 6 Michigan State (.645). Minnesota (.628) is 14th, while Penn State (.618) ranks 19th. In overall strength of schedule, Purdue is eighth at .635, while Northwestern (.622) is 13th and Michigan (.615) is 15th.
Seven League Teams Rank in Top 25 in Attendance
In the latest unofficial attendance rankings compiled by the University of Wisconsin, seven Big Ten teams average in the nation's top 25. Purdue is fifth with an average of 8,456, while Minnesota (8,413) is sixth and Penn State (8,042) is seventh. Wisconsin (6,100) ranks 14th, followed by No. 17 Michigan State (5,171), No. 22 Ohio State (4,245) and No. 23 Iowa (4,118).
Big Ten Tops Among Leagues With Two 22-Win Teams
With Ohio State at 24-2 and Michigan State at 22-3, the Big Ten is the only Conference in the nation to boast a pair of teams with 22 wins or more. The Big Ten is also one of three Leagues to boast two or more teams with 20+ wins.
Big Ten Women's Basketball Attracting More Fans in 04-05
Big Ten Women's Basketball is attracting more fans nationwide than last year. Currently, the League boasts an all-game total of 772,952 fans through 193 games, which is over 68,000 better than last season's 193-game total. The Conference is also ahead of its record-breaking marks for home attendance, which were set last year.
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Big Ten Ranks Among NCAA Leaders
In the latest NCAA report (2/8/05), issued each week on Tuesdays, nine student-athletes and seven teams rank in the top 15 in their respective categories. Ohio State's Caity Matter is sixth overall with a .468 three-point field goal percentage, while Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen ranks ninth at .459. The Spartans' Kristin Haynie is 15th with 3.3 steals per game, while Ohio State's Jessica Davenport ranks 14th with 2.8 blocks per game. Penn State's Tanisha Wright is 15th with a 19.9 scoring average. Ohio State's Brandie Hoskins is 10th in field goal percentage at .594, followed by Davenport in 13th at .590 and Iowa's Jamie Cavey in 14th at .589. Ohio State is first in field goal percentage (.515), while Penn State ranks second in free throw percentage at .788. Michigan State ranks fourth in rebounding margin at 10.0.
League Scoring Title Narrowing to Two Player Race?
Two Big Ten student-athletes have begun to pull away in their chase for the League's scoring title. Currently, Illinois senior Angelina Williams leads the Conference with 20.3 points per game, while Ohio State sophomore Jessica Davenport follows closely behind with 20.2. The last Buckeye to lead the League in scoring was Katie Smith with 21.2 ppg during the 1994-95 season. The following year, Ashley Berggren netted 27.5 ppg for Illinois, marking the last time an Illini player has led the Conference in scoring.
Top Three League Teams Protecting the Home Court
League-leader Ohio State and Penn State and Michigan State, who are tied for second, have been protecting the home court this season. Currently, the three teams have combined for a 36-0 record at home, including an 18-0 combined mark in Big Ten play. Ohio State (15-0), Michigan State (11-0) and Penn State (10-0) are all undefeated at home.
OSU's Davenport Named WBCA Player of the Month
Ohio State sophomore Jessica Davenport has been named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Player of the Month for January. Davenport is the first Big Ten student-athlete to earn the award, which was started during the 2003-04 season. In the month of January, Davenport averaged 19.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and shot .579 (77-133) from the field in 10 games. The 6-4 center earned the honor over 26 other nominees, including Wade Trophy National Player of the Year candidates Monique Curry (Duke), Sandora Irvin (TCU) and Kendra Wecker (Kansas State).
A Grand Old Milestone
Michigan State's Liz Shimek became the 14th active Big Ten student-athlete to eclipse the 1,000-career-point mark this past weekend. Shimek's accomplishment mark the fourth time this season a Spartan has reach the 1,000 point mark. Shimek joins Kelli Roehrig, Lindsay Bowen and Kristin Haynie. Only two other teams are known to have had four players reach the 1,000-point mark in the same season - Georgia during the 1995-96 season and Saint Joseph's last season.The following is a list of the current players who have accomplished the feat in their career.
UW's Anderson Posting "Mazzante/Whalen" Numbers
Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson currently ranks among Big Ten greats Kelly Mazzante of Penn State and Lindsay Whalen of Minnesota. In the past five years, the Big Ten has not had a freshman average over 17.0 points in all games since the 2000-01 season when Mazzante and Whalen began their collegiate careers. But this year, the Badger freshman is fourth in the League at 18.0 points per game Currently there are four freshmen ranked in the top 30 in scoring this season, which is a first since the 2000-01 campaign. The League had three in 2001-02 and just two in each of the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
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MSU's Haynie Joins Rare Big Ten Club
With seven assists Sunday at Wisconsin, Kristin Haynie became the fourth player in Big Ten history to amass career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals. Haynie now has career totals of 1,056 points, 525 rebounds, 505 assists and 307 steals. She joins Ohio State's Yvette Angel (1981-85), Purdue's Katie Douglas (1997-2001) and Wisconsin's Tamara Moore (1999-2002).
