Big Ten women’s basketball news and notes

(BIG TEN) – A pair of high-profile matchups are on the agenda for the Big Ten this week. No. 3 USC welcomes No. 6/5 Notre Dame to Los Angeles on Saturday. The contest is set to tip at 4 p.m. ET on NBC. Action continues in the City of Angels on Sunday when No. 5/6 UCLA hosts defending national champion No. 1 South Carolina at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

• The Big Ten paces all Division I conferences with 68 wins so far this season, followed by the SEC (59), Big 12 (58) and ACC (57). The conference also has 12 teams with unblemished records.
• Offensive production remains the calling card of the Big Ten Conference. The league has 12 teams averaging more than 81 points per game and six included among the nation’s top 25 scoring offenses – Michigan State (7th – 95.4), Penn State (9th – 94.4), Nebraska (T12th – 90.8), USC (T12th – 90.8), Ohio State (17th – 88.3) and Iowa (25th – 85.5).
• Nebraska leads the nation in field goal percentage at 55.9 percent, followed by Penn State (8th – .527), Iowa (12th – .518), Michigan State (15th – .514) and Maryland (25th – .490).
• From beyond the arc, Nebraska has converted at a 47.8 clip, the second-highest rate in the country. Maryland is close behind at 46.3 percent to rank fifth.
• The Big Ten currently leads all Division I conferences in scoring (83.0 ppg), field goal percentage (.476) and assists (17.9 apg).
• Heading into the third week of the season, the Big Ten has faced eight ranked opponents and holds a 6-2 record. This includes a quartet of upsets – Oregon def. No. 12 Baylor, 76-74; Illinois def. No. 19 Florida State, 83-74; No. 18 Maryland def. No. 11 Duke, 85-80; Indiana def. No. 24 Stanford, 79-66.
• The Big Ten continues to have an impressive presence with seven teams in this week’s Associated Press (AP) poll. No. 3 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No. 11 Maryland, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 21 Nebraska held steady while No. 22 Illinois gained a spot and No. 23 Oregon moved up two spots. Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State received votes. The Big Ten and SEC tied for the top spot with seven schools ranked.
• The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll featured seven Big Ten teams this week. No. 3 USC and No. 6 UCLA remained unchanged. No. 11 Ohio State, No. 13 Maryland, No. 19 Nebraska, No. 23 Illinois and No. 25 Oregon all moved up the rankings. Iowa, Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan garnered votes. Yet again, the Big Ten and SEC tied for the most ranked teams.
• Junior Lauren Betts was tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in UCLA’s two-win week. She scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished four assists against Pepperdine. Betts followed up with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance versus Arkansas. It was the first Big Ten weekly honor of her career.
• Mila Holloway was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, her first weekly recognition. She notched a pair of double-figure scoring games as Michigan picked up two wins. Holloway scored a career-high 21 points with eight assists, five steals and two boards against Central Michigan. She dropped 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal against Oakland.
• USC sophomore JuJu Watkins etched her name in the record books during the Trojans’ 81-50 victory over Santa Clara. Watkins scored her 1,000th career point to become the fastest player in USC history to reach the 1,000-point mark (38 games). She surpassed the previous record held by women’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller (48 games). Watkins’ 1,000 points in 38 games tied for the second fastest in Division I women’s basketball history.
• Indiana handed No. 24 Stanford its first loss of the season, 79-66. It was the first win for the Hoosiers over the Cardinal since the inaugural meeting in 1979.
• Illinois head coach Shauna Green picked up her 200th career victory after guiding the Illini to an 84-37 win over Eastern Illinois.
• Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb recorded her 300th career win in USC’s 124-39 triumph over CSUN. The Trojans’ 124 points are the most in program history and ties for fifth-most in Big Ten history. The 85-point margin of victory is the largest in school history.
• Rutgers legend Cappie Pondexter was selected as one of seven inductees into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2025 class. Pondexter, who was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, led the Scarlet Knights to back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in 2005 and 2006. She was the first player to earn All-BIG EAST First Team laurels four times in the history of the league and ranks third in Rutgers history with 2,211 career points. Pondexter was the second overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She went on to win two WNBA titles with the Mercury, be named Finals MVP in 2007, earn seven All-Star appearances and win a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
• The new era of Big Ten women’s basketball got off to a hot start as programs won more than 87 percent of their games during the first week of the 2024-25 campaign. The stellar results included five wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including three upsets.