2019–20 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season

The 2019–20 Big Ten women's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2019. The regular season will end in March, 2020.

2019–20 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)Big Ten Network, ESPN, Fox, FS1
2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
Tournament
2019–20 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 4 Maryland†16–2 .889  28–4  .875
No. 12 Northwestern16–2 .889  26–4  .867
No. 21 Iowa14–4 .778  23–7  .767
No. 20 Indiana13–5 .722  24–8  .750
Rutgers11–7 .611  22–9  .710
Ohio State11–7 .611  21–12  .636
Michigan10–8 .556  21–11  .656
Michigan State9–9 .500  16–14  .533
Purdue8–10 .444  18–14  .563
Nebraska7–11 .389  17–13  .567
Minnesota5–13 .278  16–15  .516
Wisconsin3–15 .167  12–19  .387
Illinois2–16 .111  11–19  .367
Penn State1–17 .056  7–23  .233
† 2020 Big Ten Tournament winner
As of June 27, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll

The Big Ten Tournament will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in March 2020.

Head coaches

Coaching changes prior to the season

Penn State

On March 9, 2019, Penn State fired head coach Coquese Washington.[1] On April 3, 2019, the school hired Carolyn Kieger away from Marquette to serve as head coach.[2]

Coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles Big Ten Tournament titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Illinois Nancy Fahey Washington (MO) 3 19–42 2–32 0 0 0 0 0
Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 6 103–66 43–43 0 0 2 0 0
Iowa Lisa Bluder Drake 20 393–215 193–124 1 2 14 0 0
Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 18 458–124 78–10* 4 3 15 3 1
Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 8 156–85 66–52 0 0 3 0 0
Michigan State Suzy Merchant Eastern Michigan 13 265–134 127–77 2 0 9 0 0
Minnesota Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx (Player) 2 21–11 9–9 0 0 0 0 0
Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 4 42–49 23–27 0 0 1 0 0
Northwestern Joe McKeown George Washington 11 180–172 67–119 0 0 1 0 0
Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 7 134–65 71–31 2 1 4 0 0
Penn State Carolyn Kieger Marquette 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0
Purdue Sharon Versyp Indiana 14 276–162 128–92 0 4 9 0 0
Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer Iowa 25 499–277 42–42* 0 0 16 2 0
Wisconsin Jonathan Tsipis George Washington 4 33–61 9–41 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2019–20 season.
  • Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season.
  • Frese's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.
  • Stringer's Big East and American conference record excluded since Rutgers began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.

Preseason

Preseason conference poll

The Big Ten released the preseason ranking on October 23, 2019 which featured a ranking by both media and coaches.[3][4]

Media
Ranking Team
1 Maryland
2 Michigan
3 Michigan State
4 Indiana
5 Minnesota
Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Maryland
2 Michigan State
3 Indiana
4 Michigan
5 Purdue

Preseason All-Big Ten

On October 21, 2019, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year.[5]

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Kaila Charles, Maryland
Preseason All-Big Ten Team Ali Patberg, Indiana
Kathleen Doyle, Iowa
Kaila Charles*, Maryland
Taylor Mikesell, Maryland
Naz Hillmon*, Michigan
Shay Colley, Michigan State
Destiny Pitts, Minnesota
Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern
Ae’Rianna Harris, Purdue
Karissa McLaughlin, Purdue
*Unanimous selections

Preseason watchlists

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.[6]

Wooden Naismith Drysdale Lieberman Miller McClain Leslie
Ali Patberg, Indiana Y Y Y
Kathleen Doyle, Iowa Y
Shakira Austin, Maryland Y Y
Kaila Charles, Maryland Y Y Y
Stephanie Jones, Maryland Y
Taylor Mikesell, Maryland Y
Naz Hillmon, Michigan Y Y
Shay Colley, Michigan State Y
Taiye Bello, Minnesota Y
Destiny Pitts, Minnesota Y
Kate Cain, Nebraska Y
Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern Y
Ae'Rianna Harris, Purdue Y Y

Preseason national polls
Main article: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season § Pre-season polls
AP CBS Sports[7] Coaches ESPN[8] ESPNW[9]
Illinois
Indiana24162124
Iowa
Maryland45555
Michigan2524242323
Michigan State172125
Minnesota23181617
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Regular season

Rankings
See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
(Italics) Number of first place votes
 Pre/
Wk 1		Wk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12		Wk
13		Wk
14		Wk
15		Wk
16		Wk
17		Wk
18		Wk
19		Wk
20		Final
Illinois AP
C
Indiana AP 24 21 18 17 14 12 12 14 14 12 15 17 20 18 20 24 22
C RV 25 23 16 15 14 15 15 13 16 24 23 22 23 RV 24
Iowa AP RV RV RV 22 19 18 20 17 19 18
C RV RV 24 21 19 20 20 21 20
Maryland AP 4 8 9 9 9 13 13 12 12 17 20 20 17 13 10 7 7
C 5 10 10 9 12 11 11 11 16 20 17 16 12 10 8 7
Michigan AP 25 24 21 RV 24 24 24 23 RV 24
C 24 19 RV 25 22 22 23 RV RV
Michigan State AP
C
Minnesota AP
C
Nebraska AP
C
Northwestern AP
C
Ohio State AP
C
Penn State AP
C
Purdue AP
C
Rutgers AP
C
Wisconsin AP
C

Early season tournaments

Nine of the 14 Big Ten teams participated in early season tournaments.[10] All Big Ten teams participated in the ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the 13th year for the event.

Team Tournament Finish
Indiana Paradise Jam Tournament 3rd
Iowa Puerto Rico Clasico 2nd
Maryland Dayton Beach Invitational
Michigan State Junkanoo Jam 3rd
Purdue Gulf Coast Showcase 2nd
Rutgers Junkanoo Jam 1st

References
  1. "Penn State parts with Coquese Washington after 12 seasons". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  2. "Kieger Named Penn State Women's Basketball Head Coach". GOPSUSports.com. Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. "Maryland Tops Big Ten Women's Basketball Preseason Rankings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  4. "Michigan State women's basketball pegged as one of preseason favorites in Big Ten". LansingStateJournal.com. www.lansingstatejournal.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  5. "Maryland Tops Big Ten Women's Basketball Preseason Rankings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  6. "2019-20 Women's Basketball National Preseason Honors". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  7. "Women's college basketball power rankings: Oregon, Stanford Baylor are top teams as 2019-20 season begins". CBSSports.com. CBS INTERACTIVE. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  8. "UConn, Louisville, NC State up in Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  9. "Sabrina Ionescu and Oregon open at No. 1 in espnW's preseason Top 25". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  10. Dobbertean, Chris (October 24, 2018). "2019-20 College Basketball Early Season Tournaments, Events, And Neutral-Site Games". Blogging the Bracket. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
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