Signs For What's Coming
Takeaways from the seven conference games the Big Ten gifted us
And just like that, the Big Ten’s early conference games are finished.
Until conference play fully starts on Dec. 30, these seven games are our best gauge on seeing where these teams sit against each other at the early parts of the season.
I guess we should talk about these games then.
Last Week’s Hoopla:
I’m going to go through all seven of these in-conference matchups and talk about the major things I took from each of them. Some of these games were absolute bangers, others were lopsided, but every one of them gave something of note for the teams involved moving forward.
There were some intriguing non-conference games that happened earlier this week, but I will bring those up to talk about the teams as I get to each game.
Ohio State 94, Penn State 84 (OT)
This was the game of the weekend, an absolute fireworks display from both teams that showed that both of these teams are going to be matchup concerns for the rest of the Big Ten.
In typical Ohio State fashion, the Buckeyes faced a large deficit earlier in the contest and trailed by 10 going into halftime. Penn State kept them at bay for awhile, holding a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but Ohio State kept at it and went on a 10-0 run to start the frame and take the lead.
The game looked to be potentially iced on a nasty step-back three by Celeste Taylor to go up 80-76 with 43 seconds left, but this is where we learned something about this new Penn State team. The Nittany Lions answered with a bucket from Makenna Marisa with 26 seconds to go, immediately got a steal, then Taylor Valladay finished a tough basket to tie the game and force overtime.
This back-and-forth battle ultimately went one way from there, but that felt more to me like Ohio State stepping up than Penn State crumbling. The Buckeyes played terrific, clean basketball in the extra frame, took care of business and ended with a double-digit win after it was all said and done.
Part of this was also due to Penn State’s foul troubles, which took out key members of its rotation and caused an extra level of fatigue throughout the roster. The final nail in the coffin was the most unfortunate: Marisa went down with what appeared to be a lower leg injury and did not return. She was spectacular against Ohio State: 28 points and 8 rebounds on 11-of-21 shooting. Hopefully she won’t have to miss extended time.
Ohio State was led by Jacy Sheldon and Cotie McMahon, who scored 58 of the team’s 94 points. Sheldon (31 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) was an efficient 8 of 13 from the field and did most of her work from the free throw line, hitting 13 of 14. McMahon had 27 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals, another excellent showing for the star sophomore. She also had 14 free throw attempts, but hit only 5, which almost cost the Buckeyes in a big way.
The Nittany Lions went 0-2 immediately after sneaking into the Top 25, but both losses showed a significant amount of fight in a roster that had lacked it in previous years. Penn State looks like a different beast, and if Marisa is okay and Ashley Owusu can eventually see the court, this should be an NCAA Tournament team.
Michigan 84, Illinois 48
Oh!
I certainly didn't see this one coming. Michigan and Illinois felt like relatively even teams coming in, Illinois was at home, and for some further context, this happened four days prior:
Michigan 46, Toledo 69
And yet, despite all of that, the Wolverines painted a masterpiece in Champaign on Sunday.
The game started out normal enough, with Illinois jumping out to a 7-4 lead with 5:41 to go in the first quarter. I bring this time up specifically because it was at this point that Michigan decided to go rabid on these poor Illini.
Illinois did not score another basket until the 5:49 mark of the second quarter, a near full 10 minutes after Adalia McKenzie put the team up 3. Four free throw makes were all the Illini could muster in that span.
How about the final 5:49 of the half? Well, after Brynn Shoup-Hill hit the three that broke the spell, Chrya Evans immediately scored a counter three for Michigan, and Illinois went right back into the shadow realm. The Illini scored one more basket — a Kendall Bostic layup — before it was 39-16 Wolverines at half. Michigan just kept piling it on the rest of the way.
Michigan held Illinois to 29.8 percent shooting overall and 15.8 percent shooting from deep while shooting 45.2 and 43.3 percent from those areas, respectively. The Wolverines had 20 assists and just six (!!!) turnovers. They committed 19 in the loss to Toledo, as well as 23 in the win over Harvard the week prior. This was a full-scale turnaround that gives me a lot of faith in where the Wolverines are headed.
Jordan Hobbs led Michigan with 22 points, a breakout performance for the junior. On the other side, I’m willing to write off this performance as a fluke for Illinois, at least for now. The other two losses on the schedule are understandable, and the Illini have won big in ever y other contest. Need to see some positive signs against Missouri this week, though.
Nebraska 80, Michigan State 74
Nebraska, you’ve won me back.
The Cornhuskers earned a massive road win to open up Big Ten play, taking down NET Rankings darling Michigan State with a big win that could have been more lopsided than the final score represents.
It was a close game for much of the contest, with Nebraska taking a 43-39 halftime lead, but, after an even third, the Cornhuskers began to pull away at the start of the fourth quarter. The lead ballooned to 17 and stayed around there for awhile, with Nebraska up 77-60 with 2:17 to play.
To Michigan State’s credit, they kept battling and got the deficit all the way down to 4 late, but it was the Cornhuskers who ultimately held on. Maybe most impressively, Nebraska did this without a massive scoring effort from star Jaz Shelley, who finished with 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting. Shelley also had 7 rebounds and 9 assists because she is Jaz Shelley, but Nebraska needed other scoring threats and found them.
Alexis Markowski (13 points) and a pair of freshmen: Jessica Petrie (11 points) and Natalie Potts (10), also finished in double figures, while three others also finished with at least 8 points. Markowski was also huge on the glass, hauling in 17 rebounds and adding 3 steals. She has been great to start this season, making that leap that seemed evident after her stellar freshman campaign in 2021-22.
Michigan State has lost some key depth pieces to injury already this season, so to see the Spartans showing this much fight is promising. Moira Joiner (18 points) and Theryn Hallock (17) had 35 of the team’s points in the contest, as both led a dominant interior scoring game for the Spartans. Michigan State shot 57.5 percent inside the arc, but hit only 4 of its 27 threes.
Minnesota 60, Purdue 58
Somehow, someway, Minnesota just keeps figuring out how to win.
After a 7-7 first quarter in a sport that wasn’t football, both teams slowly got into their offenses, but Minnesota found the spark earlier and took a 25-18 lead into half. But Purdue, and more specifically, Madison Layden, had enough out of the break and dominated the third quarter. Layden scored 16 points in the frame and Purdue held a 43-38 lead into the fourth.
The lead changed hands multiple times in the final quarter, but it looked like Purdue might take it when the Boilermakers went up 4 with 1:23 to go. But the Gophers, as they showed in the double OT win over Drake and the comeback victory over Kentucky, stayed poised and, following a Mara Braun miss, Sophie Hart put in a layup to cut the deficit in half.
Both teams got fouled and both teams split free throws, keeping Purdue up 2 with 28 seconds remaining. Then, it was time for Braun, who made a spectacular shot with 13 seconds left to tie the game.
It is here where Purdue fans likely will want to stop reading.
Purdue had the ball in a tie game with a chance to win, but a wild pass was picked off by Amaya Battle. Instead of letting Minnesota call a timeout and letting a play decide if OT was necessary, Jeanae Terry fouled Battle, putting her on the free throw line where she hit both with 3 seconds to go. Braun stole the ball on Purdue’s last ditch effort, and the Gophers moved to 9-1.
This Minnesota team has some real life to it, and it’s a delight to watch. Braun (21 points), Battle (15) and Hart (14) were each great here, and managed some tough shooting against a great Purdue defense, helped out by committing only eight turnovers.
It was a tough defeat for the Boilermakers, who are now 6-4, but this team fought hard and will be a tough out against anyone in the Big Ten. That third quarter by Layden is hopefully more than an anomaly, as she’s shown immense potential in the past, and freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson (8 points, 11 rebounds) continues to develop in the starting role.
Iowa 87, Wisconsin 65
After an even first quarter, Iowa ultimately pulled away and won a Big Ten road game by 22 points. Not all that surprising, sure, but individual performances were the intriguing portion here for me.
Starting with the Badgers, they should be really happy with what Ronnie Porter (17 points), Serah Williams (15) and Sania Copeland (13) were able to do here. Porter led Wisconsin in points, added 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and continued to look like the point guard the team needs. Williams had 8 boards, and Copeland added 4 steals.
All three shot the ball relatively efficiently, and all of these are positive signs to take away against a very good Iowa team.
For the Hawkeyes, Caitlin Clark did her thing, but more efficiently than in some recent games: 28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 11-19 FG, 4-8 3PT. The big change here was Hannah Stuelke, who had a huge performance with 21 points in 25 minutes. After missing some games due to injury, this was the first game that truly looked like she could be the next co-star for Clark, and that’s a huge breakthrough for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa also scrapped out a tough win over rival Iowa State earlier in the week, and Clark broke the 3,000-point barrier in the process. Kate Martin had a big 16 points in that contest. It’s starting to look like the Clark-Martin-Stuelke trio could be what leads the Hawkeyes this season, and I want to see that continue to take shape.
Indiana 66, Rutgers 56
This was an ugly one, but Indiana ended up scrapping out a double-digit road win over the Scarlet Knights in the end.
The Hoosiers led for the entirety of the second half, and the game was never within one score, but Rutgers did cut the deficit to 5 points with under 7 to go in the fourth quarter, so it’s hard to call this a comfortable win for Indiana either.
The big takeaway from this game was that the two stars showed up. Mackenzie Holmes and Kaylene Smikle were the clear No. 1s for each of their teams in this one, and it was Holmes’ 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting that led Indiana out of upset territory. Smikle’s 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting were huge, but not enough.
It wasn’t a bad game for Indiana’s role players — Sydney Parrish (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Chloe Moore-McNeil (11 points, 7 assists) played big parts, but I don’t think we’ve seen enough Holmes dominance early this season, and this game felt like that All-American type of showing.
Rutgers did enough to keep this game interesting the whole way, but not quite enough to get over that hurdle. The Scarlet Knights held Indiana in check from deep (3 of 16), but the Hoosiers dominated them in the interior, hitting 60.5 percent of their two-point attempts.
Maryland 71, Northwestern 58
This one threatened to get whacky and weird for a moment, and it was so nearly a tie contest entering halftime. But then Shyanne Sellers decided it wouldn’t be, and Maryland decided it had enough from there.
After the 33-33 tie, Maryland went on a 23-6 run through the third quarter to pull away. Sellers only scored 13 points, but teetered with a triple double by adding 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals. Allie Kubek’s 17 points led the Terps, as she continue to make a larger impact than I had anticipated.
The outcome ended up being fine, but this was a Maryland home game, so it remains concerning that it was so close for so long here. On the other end, Northwestern needs to start stacking up positive takeaways after a slow start to this campaign, and this first half is exactly that.
Going to skip a What To Watch section for this already outrageously long Hoopla, apologies. The full Big Ten schedule can be seen here, but we are back in the non-con.
Feature Photo Credit: Ohio State WBB, Twitter/X
If you are interested in more Big Ten women’s basketball content like this, you can subscribe with the button at the top or bottom of the post, or share it with the button below. Thanks!