Dec. 5, 2005

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A Look at the Week Ahead...
Big Ten women's basketball action will take place during each of the seven days this week, beginning with Illinois traveling to Bradley on Monday.  Two games are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, while a trio of contests is slated for Wednesday and Friday.  One of the highlighted games during the week will be between intrastate rivals Notre Dame and Purdue.  The No. 11/12 Fighting Irish travel to No. 22/23 Purdue on Wednesday.  The key matchup over the weekend will be a top 25 contest as No. 4/4 Ohio State heads to No. 25 Southern California on Sunday.

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 ranked fourth and Minnesota was 10th in both polls, having jumped seven spots over the past two weeks.  Michigan State was ranked No. 13/15, while No. 22/23 Purdue rounded out the Big Ten contingent. 

Buckeyes Stay Perfect
Ohio State faced a stingy Boston College squad last week that took the No. 4/4 Buckeyes to overtime.  OSU prevailed in the extra session, 66-61, and is the lone remaining undefeated team in the conference at 5-0.  The game against BC was the closest one Ohio State has had all season.  Prior to game, the Buckeyes had been outscoring their opponents by 46.8 points (81.8- 35.0).  Despite the overtime win, OSU is still averaging over 38 points (78.6-40.2) more than its opposition.

And Speaking of Overtime Wins...
Did you see Penn State knocked off nationally-ranked Texas Tech in double-overtime on ESPN2 Sunday?  If you didn't, credit the Lady Lions as they protected their home court against the No. 24/24 Lady Raiders in their first double-overtime game in school history.  Led by Kamela Gissendanner's career-high 34 points, PSU held Texas Tech to only 16 points in the first half, well below the 33.5 points the Lady Raiders averaged in the first half coming into this game.

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 +12.40 turnover margin, having caused 115, while only committing 53.  Purdue has made 101 turnovers, but has caused 144 for a margin of +7.17.  Four other Big Ten schools currently post a positive margin, however the closest team to the top two is Illinois at +2.00.

The Dishing Duo
As is the case in team turnover margin, two standouts have distanced themselves from the pack in assists.  Northwestern's Nadia Bibbs leads the conference with 37 assists in six games for an average of 6.17.  The NU sophomore is followed closely by Penn State freshman Brianne O'Rourke (36 in 6) at 6.00.  Veteran Brandie Hoskins, a junior from Ohio State, ranks third in the league with an average of 4.80.

Buckeye Trio:  Unselfish and Precise
Three Ohio State standouts currently hold the top-three positions in assist/turnover ratio.  Kim Wilburn and Debbie Merrill each hold a league-best 3.40 ratio, having dished 17 assists, while committing only five turnovers in five games this season.  Teammate Brandie Hoskins is third at 2.18 (24/11 in 5).

Perfect From The Line
Adrienne Squire of Penn State currently leads the conference in free-throw shooting, as she has not missed one attempt this year.  The Lady Lion sophomore is a perfect 16-of-16 this year over six games.  Indiana's Cyndi Valentin ranks second behind Squire, having missed only two of her 32 attempts this year for a .938 average.

Purdue Putting up the Points
Despite a 65-54 loss at No. 14/14 DePaul on Saturday, Purdue posted high-scoring affairs in its two previous matchups.  Ranked just fifth in the league in scoring (72.5), the Boilermakers put 95 points on the board in a win over Arkansas State on Nov. 29 and answered with 98 in a win at Western Michigan on Dec. 1.  Both totals are the two highest outputs by any conference team this year.

Illini Snag Season's Top Rebounding Mark
In its 75-40 pounding over Saint Louis last Saturday, Illinois posted 59 rebounds in the win, which marks the conference's highest total this season.  the Illini's previous season-best occurred just one game prior when they recorded 43 caroms in a 57-43 win over Northern Illinois on Nov. 29.

Speaking of Rebounds...
A host of Big Ten standouts have grabbed a conference-best 14 rebounds this season.  Indiana's Jenny DeMuth (12/2), Ohio State's Jessica Davenport (11/21) and Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson (12/2) and Danielle Ward (11/20) have all reached the 14-rebound mark once this year.

Gissendanner Makes 3-for-30?
This past week, Penn State's Kamela Gissendanner scored a career-high 34 points to become the third Big Ten student-athlete to eclipse the 30-point mark this season.  Iowa's Crystal Smith posted 46 points in a loss at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 22, while Northwestern's Ifeoma Okonkwo recorded 31 in a win at Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 26.

Double The Fun
Two Big Ten players -- Ohio State's Jessica Davenport and Northwestern's Ifeoma Okonkwo -- lead the conference with three double-doubles apiece this season.  Davenport has 21 career double-doubles, while Okonkwo has six.  In addition, four players have posted two double-doubles already this season in Indiana's Jenny DeMuth (12 career), Michigan's Kelly Helvey (2), Michigan State's Liz Shimek (25) and Northwestern's Melissa Miller (2).

Scoring Streakers
A total of 15 Big Ten players have put together at least two straight games of double-figure scoring.  Three standouts -- Ohio State's Jessica Davenport, Iowa's Crystal Smith and Wisconsin's Janese Banks -- have streaks that have been maintained since the end of last season.  Davenport has scored in double-figures 24 times (5 in 2005-06), followed by Smith's 17 (6) and Banks' 9 (7).  Banks' teammate, Jolene Anderson, has scored in double figures in each of her seven games this season.

Senior Scoring
Three seniors currently sit atop the scoring rankings in the Big Ten.  Iowa's Crystal Smith is averaging a league-best 21.9 points per game, while Michigan State's Liz Shimek (18.5) and Indiana's Cyndi Valentin (17.9) follow closely behind. 

Having a Grand Ol' Time
Six active conference student-athletes have eclipsed 1,000 points for their respective careers.  Ohio State's Debbie Merrill, a transfer from Cincinnati, leads all players with 1,448 career points.  Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen (1,399) and Liz Shimek (1,294) are ranked second and third, followed by Indiana's Cyndi Valentin (1,259) and Jenny DeMuth (1,177) and Ohio State's Jessica Davenport (1,154).