Various B1G Team Notes 2020-21

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Tanaya Beacham Joins Buckeyes as Grad Transfer - Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff announced that Ohio native Tanaya Beacham has joined the program as a graduate tra...

ohiostatebuckeyes.com

Buckeyes add grad transfer Tanaya Beacham:

Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff announced that Ohio native Tanaya Beacham has joined the program as a graduate transfer. Beacham played the last three seasons at Toledo and will have one year of eligibility remaining in 2020-21.

“Extremely excited to add Tanaya to the Buckeye family,” said McGuff. “Her talent, athleticism, and experience will be a great addition to the program.”

Beacham played 95 games over the last three seasons at Toledo after redshirting in 2016-17. She averaged career-highs of 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while leading the team in field goal percentage at 58.3 last year. Beacham also served as a team captain last season.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Women’s Hoops Adds Destiny Marshall & Aicha Ndour to 2020-21 Roster - Rutgers University Athletics

scarletknights.com

Rutgers adds two:

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Aug. 6, 2020) –

Rutgers women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer has signed two additional recruits to National Letters of Intent for the 2020-21 season.

Junior transfer Destiny Marshall and freshman Senegal-native Aicha Ndour join five other newcomers in an ongoing recruiting class ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten.

The class, with their national recruiting rankings in parentheses, includes guard Diamond Johnson (No. 6), post Sakima Walker (No. 21), forward Chyna Cornwell (No. 48), guard Elizabeth Martino (No. 53) and wing Erica Lafayette.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Kissinger Closes Husker Playing Career - University of Nebraska

Nebraska guard Taylor Kissinger announced the end of her collegiate playing career on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

huskers.com

Nebraska's Taylor Kissinger ends her playing career.

Nebraska guard Taylor Kissinger announced the end of her collegiate playing career on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The 6-1 shooter from Minden, Neb., was preparing for her fourth season with the Husker women's basketball team in 2020-21. She redshirted because of a hip injury as a junior in 2019-20. Kissinger underwent season-ending surgery on Jan. 3, 2020, after appearing in five games with the Big Red during the fall of 2019.

Kissinger faced setbacks during her rehabilitation following surgery, and her participation was limited throughout the summer.
[...]
Kissinger appeared in 60 games with 31 starts over two-plus seasons with the Huskers. She averaged 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds while appearing in 25 games with seven starts as a true freshman in 2017-18. She helped the Huskers produce the biggest turnaround in the nation and advance to the 2018 NCAA Tournament, despite missing six games in midseason with a knee injury. She also suffered an upper body sprain late in 2017-18 that limited her contributions at the end of the season.

She produced her most consistent season as a sophomore, playing in all 30 games with 24 starts in 2018-19, while averaging 8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. She tied the Nebraska single-season record by hitting 45.6 percent (62-136) of her three-point attempts and connected on 88.2 percent (30-34) of her free throws.

Kissinger missed four games in the concussion protocol early last season, but returned to action and tied a career high with six three-pointers on her way to a team-high 19 points in a win over Duke (Dec. 4) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. A hip injury knocked her out for the rest of the season after a game with Oral Roberts (Dec. 14).

 

[LakevilleBro]

Kissinger Closes Husker Playing Career - University of Nebraska

Nebraska guard Taylor Kissinger announced the end of her collegiate playing career on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

huskers.com

Nebraska's Taylor Kissinger ends her playing career.

I was able to see her play in-person many times in AAU. She was a great shooter, she always seemed happy on the court. Sorry to hear about her injuries.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

How Michigan has grown recruiting

In every aspect of the recruiting process, Michigan excels, but its specialty lies in Barnes Arico’s East Coast roots, ability to win Midwest recruits over regional competitors and excellent coaching staff.

www.michigandaily.com

Discussion of Michigan's recruiting:

With the No. 12 recruiting class in the country this year, Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico must be doing something right. While it’s already the third time the Wolverines have a class ranked in the top 20 since the hiring of Barnes Arico in 2012, how Michigan’s staff has managed to recruit such coveted players this season is attributed to a multitude of factors.

Firstly, Barnes Arico has a large range in her recruiting network. Originally from New York, she still has East Coast ties. Her first head coaching job was at Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison, a Division III university in New Jersey. She stayed close to home for multiple years after that, coaching at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and St. John’s University in New York. Barnes Arico’s best recruit ever, Katelynn Flaherty, was from New Jersey

[...]

“I think that there’s a lot of value in saying that, if you’re Michigan, you should be getting the best player in the state,” Olson said. “I know they’re always battling the same kids, and I know everyone in the Big Ten always seems to be battling for a lot of the same kids. But you should be getting the better players in the state.”

Historically, Michigan hasn’t always gotten those players. Last year there wasn’t a single player on the roster from the state of Michigan. The program has lost a lot of those five-star recruits to Michigan State, and other programs in Michigan. However, the tides seem to be changing for the Wolverines.

Freshman Whitney Sollom was one of three finalists for Michigan’s Ms. Basketball last year, and now she’s attending Michigan. While only two players on the Wolverines’ 2020-21 roster are from Michigan, they represent the best of the best from the state.

From the remaining roster, all but three players hail from the Midwest — the three being two international students and freshman Meghan Fiso from Washington.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Terrapins Welcome Grad Transfer Alaysia Styles - University of Maryland Athletics

Frese welcomes transfer from California

umterps.com

Cal Grad transfer Alaysia Styles picks Maryland.

Maryland women's basketball head coach Brenda Frese welcomed graduate transfer Alaysia "Birdy" Styles to the program Monday.

Styles, a 6-3 forward from San Diego, played three seasons at California. In her junior season, she averaged 8.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and started in 30 games for the Golden Bears.

"We are thrilled to welcome Alaysia to the Maryland family," Frese said. "We have known 'Bird' since we recruited her back in high school. At 6'3" and as a grad transfer she will bring immediate size, depth and maturity into our program right away. She is a versatile player that runs the floor hard and can rebound and score from so many areas. On top of that, she comes from a conference where she has gained a tremendous amount of experience in Pac-12 play. It has been a long awaited time and we can't wait for her to get here."

Styles will finish the fall semester at Cal, then will come to College Park for the spring 2021 semester.

Styles helped the Golden Bears to back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2018 and 2019, as well as two NCAA Tournaments and the 2019 NCAA Second Round. Styles averaged 4.6 points and 2.8 boards in her three years at Cal. She owns career highs of 19 points vs. Utah and 10 boards vs. Boston U

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Indiana Women's Basketball Motivated for Successful Season

The women's basketball program is coming off one its best seasons, but it didn't get to finish due to COVID-19. They are hungry for more success this season.

www.si.com

Various notes on the Hoosiers including an update on Jaelynn Penn's recovery from off season surgery.

But because of COVID-19, that opportunity was taken away. Their hard-working senior, Brenna Wise, had to graduate without accomplishing her goal, which was to play in two NCAA Tournaments at Indiana.

Wise's departure was the only significant loss for the team in Bloomington right now.

Ali Patberg, Grace Berger, Jaelynn Penn, Aleksa Gulbe and Mackenzie Holmes are all back with a cast of role players and impressive freshmen. It's the making of Moren's deepest Indiana team so far in her seventh season at the helm.

This is a year with unlimited potential, and it all starts with the Hoosiers' sixth-year point guard in Ali Patberg.

Patberg just turned 24 in September, and she jokes that she still feels young at heart. She is the main cog in Moren's system and she's the fuel to this team's fire.

Moren wants Patberg to be more aggressive this season and look to score the ball more, which is something Patberg said she will do if she has to.

"I'm a team player," Patberg said. "With me, that's doing whatever I'm asked. If that's what they want from me, I'll look to be more selfish. Most of my life, I've liked to pass first and set people up. But, if I'm more selfish, it might open things up for others. I'll do whatever the coaches want me to do."
[...]

[Jaelynn] Penn played a majority of last season with plantar fasciitis in both of her feet, which caused her to limp on the floor a few times. Moren announced Thursday that Penn had surgery this offseason and she's not fully back yet.

[...]

Moren believes her backcourt duo of Patberg and Grace Berger is the best backcourt in the country.

"They're awfully good," Moren said. "Ali Patberg is due to have a tremendous senior season, and Grace Berger isn't too hard behind. I like my chances with Ali and Grace."

As Berger heads into her third season, she said she's more comfortable with her 3-point shot than she's ever been before. Berger mostly does her damage from the midrange, but if she can become a dangerous distance shooter, Indiana's offense will become much better.

[...]

Then there's the frontcourt. Notre Dame transfer Danielle Patterson has been practicing at the three and four positions. Gulbe seems like she'll be playing much more of a stretch four this season, and Holmes has also looked to expand her game.

Holmes said if there was one thing quarantine did well for her, it was that it allowed her time to work on her jump shot.

If Holmes, Gulbe and Patterson can all space the floor, Indiana will have a versatile offense that will allow Patberg to get downhill and create for others.

"I think having the opportunity to be out there (3-point line) will expand the defense a lot," Holmes said.

In what's going to be the most unique season in college basketball, it's on the players to be responsible when they aren't practicing on the court.

Berger said they have created their own women's basketball bubble, only hanging out with members of the team to try to stay safe

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Iowa women’s basketball 2021 recruiting class cracks top 25

The Iowa women’s basketball 2021 recruiting class is ranked 20th in the nation, according to ESPN. The Hawkeyes have verbally committed two players in the ESPN HoopGurlz top 100, A.J. Ediger and Addison O’Grady, along with four-star recruit Sydney Affolter. “What I really enjoy about the top...

dailyiowan.com

According to the Daily Iowan Iowa shifts to four-out one-in.

The 2020 Iowa women’s basketball recruiting class was ranked 17th in the nation by ESPN, making this the second year in a row that Iowa has cracked the top 25. That class was led by the five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American point guard from West Des Moines Caitlyn Clark.

This year’s highest ranked recruit for the Hawkeyes is Ediger, a 6-foot-2-inch small forward from Hudsonville, Michigan.

Ediger is ranked No. 39 in the nation for the 2021 class and is third in the nation at her position, according to ESPN.

The Hawkeyes have shifted to a four-out one-in, read and react type of offense that really utilizes the guards and wings as opposed to using two true post players. The Iowa coaching staff believes Ediger’s versatility will work well in this fast-paced offense as she continues to improve.

O’Grady is a physical 6-foot-4-inch post player ranked No. 92 in the nation from Centennial, Colorado. O’Grady is a phenomenal passer that runs the floor well and has good hands.

Affolter, a 5-foot-11-inch wing and Chicago native, has not cracked the top 100 rankings.

Affolter’s consistency and love for the game is what makes her an exciting prospect for the Hawkeyes.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Women's basketball team holds 1st practice of the year, Merchant cites new and veteran players to watch - The State News

As the women's basketball team begins practice, they'll focus on staying healthy and utilizing their deep roster.

statenews.com

Some Michigan State notes:

Last January, forward Mardrekia Cook tore her Achilles tendon in practice, a devastating blow for a player averaging 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in her 16.6 minutes per game. Nearly 10 months later, the now redshirt senior is expected to be a full-participant in practice.

“I thought she was going to be done to be honest,” Merchant said. “... But the day she tore it she looked right up at me and said ‘I am not going to end like this coach. I am going to come back, and I am going to write my story the way I expect to write it.'”

According to Merchant, this was Cook’s third season-ending surgery, one of which included a torn ACL.

In addition to the incoming freshmen, the Spartans also received multiple transfers: two from Penn State, one from Hawaii and one from Ohio State.

Redshirt junior forward Alisia Smith was a solid player at Penn State averaging 6.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game.

“Smitty (Smith) can run,” Merchant said. “She is in great shape, and she really strides things out and she is extremely mobile in transition. ... She is very vocal and a mature young lady. So, I think she brings a sense of leadership and calmness because she has been through the Big Ten grind for three years."

The other Penn State transfer, is redshirt sophomore Jayla James, a younger player that may need some time before seeing significant minutes in the green and white. James appeared in 18 games as a Nittany Lion averaging 0.2 points and 0.8 rebounds per game.

“She’s (James) a big power guard, a very good offensive rebounder," Merchant said. "So, I will tell you that I think she’s really kind of forced the action on the defensive boards and make sure we’re making contact.

Redshirt junior guard Janai Crooms transferred this year from Ohio State to MSU. Merchant said a waiver has been submitted, and they are still waiting to hear back from the NCAA on whether or not Crooms will be eligible to play in the 2020 season.

The team also gained Lauren Rewers this offseason, a transfer graduate student from the University of Hawaii. The six-foot-four center led her team in blocked shots last year and will likely provide the same rim protection for the Spartans.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Huskers Officially Tip Off Practice - University of Nebraska

The Nebraska women's basketball team officially tipped off practice for the 2020-21 season with an afternoon practice at the Hendricks Training Complex on Wednesday,

huskers.com

Some Nebraska notes: the Huskers have height.

Nebraska's 12-player roster for the 2020-21 campaign is led by 6-5 senior center Kate Cain. NU's career blocked shot leader is coming off a junior season in which she set the school single-season mark with 101 blocks. Cain, who earned her bachelor's degree in management from Nebraska in just three years in May of 2020, was recently projected as a WNBA middle second-round pick by DraftSite.com. She was one of four Big Ten players projected in the top three rounds.

Cain (Middletown, N.Y.) is a two-time Big Ten All-Defensive selection and an honorable-mention All-Big Ten choice in 2020. She is also a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and could be a contender for CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades in 2021.

Cain will be joined as a returning starter by junior Sam Haiby. The 5-9 guard from Moorhead, Minn., ranked second among the Huskers in scoring (10.0 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg) while leading Nebraska in steals (1.5 spg) in 2019-20.

The Huskers also will be bolstered by the return of sophomore Isabelle Bourne. The 6-2 forward from Canberra, Australia played in all 30 games a year ago, averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Bourne, who has been a regular in the Australian National Team program for several years, joins Cain and newcomers Bella Cravens and Annika Stewart in the front court.

Stewart adds more size at 6-3 while also being able to stretch the floor. The freshman out of Wayzata High School in Minneapolis, Minn., averaged 20.0 points and 8.1 rebounds while hitting 41.5 percent (39-94) of her three-pointers and 89.5 percent (51-57) of her free throws as a senior in 2019-20. The first-team Minnesota Class 4A All-State selection was ranked as the No. 35 post player in the nation by ESPN in 2020.

Cravens, a 6-3 junior transfer from Laie, Hawaii, averaged 10.4 points and a Big Sky Conference-leading 8.5 rebounds per game last season at Eastern Washington. Cravens was also one of the top shot-blockers in the Big Sky the past two seasons, totaling 96 blocks in 60 games. She was an honorable-mention All-Big Sky choice as a sophomore in 2019-20.

Another member of the Australian National Team program, freshman Ruby Porter will be one of five newcomers in a revamped Husker backcourt alongside Haiby this season. Porter, a 5-10 guard from Adelaide, was a member of the Australian U17 National Team that competed at the 2018 World Championships, while also being a key player on the Australian U18 3x3 National Team that won the Asia Cup in the summer of 2019.

Junior college transfer Ashley Scoggin adds a dangerous three-point threat. Scoggin hit nearly 40 percent of her threes and 95 percent of her free throws last season as a redshirt freshman at Salt Lake City Community College. The 5-7 guard from Dallas, Ore., averaged 10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in helping the Bruins to the NJCAA Region 18 title.

Texas Tech transfer Nailah Dillard and California transfer MiCole Cayton could also contribute to the backcourt as newcomers, along with freshman Whitney Brown. The 5-8 guard was a two-time All-Nebraska performer at Grand Island Northwest High School. As a senior, Brown averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals.

Makenzie Helms and Trinity Brady return to the Big Red backcourt as sophomores in 2020-21. Helms produced a strong offseason and earned Nebraska's Lifter-of-the-Year Award for women's basketball. The 5-8 guard from East Haven, Conn., appeared in 13 games in 2019-20 after recovering from leg injuries early in the season. She contributed in each of Nebraska's final seven games of 2019-20 and was the No. 27 point guard in the nation according to ESPN in 2019. Brady also battled injuries as a true freshman.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Sevillian ready to lead Iowa women’s basketball in 2020-21

After losing star players like Megan Gustafson and Kathleen Doyle in the past two years, the Iowa women’s basketball team needs a new leader for the 2020-21 season. That leader is Alexis Sevillian. As a senior and a second-year captain, Sevillian has the most experience on and off the court on...

dailyiowan.com

Iowa's Alexis Sevillian:

After losing star players like Megan Gustafson and Kathleen Doyle in the past two years, the Iowa women’s basketball team needs a new leader for the 2020-21 season.

That leader is Alexis Sevillian.

As a senior and a second-year captain, Sevillian has the most experience on and off the court on the team.

After being redshirted as a freshman in the 2016-17 season, Sevillian has been a consistent three-year starter for the Hawkeyes.

In the 2017-18 season – her first full season on the court – Sevillian appeared in 31 games with 23 starts. She led the team with 59 three-pointers made – tied for most as a freshman in program history.

In the following season, Sevillian played in all 36 games, and helped Iowa to a Big Ten Championship and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Her junior season, and first year as a captain, Sevillian played and started 29 games. She averaged 6.7 points per game.

[...]


Sevillian’s senior season will be plagued with unexpected hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before official practices even started, some members of the team contracted the virus. Since practice started, the Hawkeyes have learned how to play basketball while wearing masks.

Official team practices started on Wednesday, and the season is set to start on Nov. 25, although a schedule has yet to be released.

Sevillian said that with all of the uncertainty around the season, she has been struggling to find motivation both as a player and as a captain.

“Just being able to find that motivation with so many unknown answers kind of has been a struggle,” Sevillian said. “But now that we’ve been able to have like consistent practices, and you know [Wednesday] was our first official practice leading up to November 25th, I think that’s helped a lot.”

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Good news for the Wolverines-former Husker immediately eligible.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

MM 11.9: Chloe Bibby eligible for upcoming Maryland women’s basketball season

This is the Maryland Minute, a short story followed by a roundup of Terps-related news.

www.testudotimes.com

Transfer Chloe Bibby immediately eligible for Maryland:

Maryland women’s basketball transfer Chloe Bibby has been granted immediate eligibility for the 2020-21 season, the team announced Sunday.

Ahead of the Terps doing a live practice for fans in the morning, head coach Brenda Frese took a moment to let everyone in on the news, resulting in a mobbing of Bibby by her teammates.

The forward started in every game for the Bulldogs last season, averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 boards before suffering an ACL tear. She also brings postseason experience as a member of Mississippi State’s 2018 team that played in the National Championship.

 

[Shades]

PSU plans to implement small ball strategy.

How Carolyn Kieger plans to employ ‘positionless’ playstyle for Penn State women’s basketball

Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger has tried to usher in many new things in her short tenure in Happy Valley.

www.collegian.psu.edu

“That's kind of always been my style as a head coach anyways,” Kieger said. “It's worked well for a lot of programs, and it will continue to work well for us as we move into the future. However, when we have a low block post player, we actually want to use them and make sure we're playing inside out and attack the paint as much as we can.”

She comes from Marquette, so that’s probably standard practice there. Prominent bigs tend to go the major conference route. That’s my perception anyway.

At least that’s one team the Gophers should be able to beat, if they go away from small ball themselves.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Big Ten Conference

The official athletics website for Big Ten Conference

bigten.org

In this week's B1G notes:

Clark and Guirantes shared Monday’s Big Ten Player of the Week honors, with Clark also earning the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award. Clark is the second freshman in conference history to be a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week, joining Minnesota’s Amanda Zahui B., who received the honor four times in 2013-14

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Column: Big win opportunities shrinking for Michigan State women's hoops to make the tournament - The State News

The Spartans need to capitalize on their few opportunities left to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

statenews.com

Suzy Merchant suggests forgoing the B1G Tournament and playing some of the makeup games:

Now with only nine games remaining on their current schedule with the potential for more or less depending on the health of teams, the Spartans only have two games left against teams in the AP Top 25 if things cannot get rescheduled.

That also comes with the uncertainty of the Big Ten tournament, which even Merchant advised against this week on her radio show.

“What I think they should do, not that anybody's going to listen, but I don't think we should have our conference tournament,” Merchant said. “I think we should use that week right now and use that as makeup games and opportunities to spread some things out for the health and safety of our student-athletes. No. 1: because playing back to back as a lot, mentally and traveling. Then the other thing is putting a lot of teams together in one place right now is kind of like a petri dish for COVID, I'm not sure that's really something we want to contribute to.”

While it’s likely that the team will attempt to play their postponed games, this COVID-19 era has been unforgiving and unpredictable. We don’t even know how big or small the NCAA Tournament will be.

 

[Shades]

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Karissa McLaughlin OUT For Season

Purdue suffers big blow with loss of leader McLaughlin.

www.hammerandrails.com

Karissa McLaughlin out for season-again:

Purdue coach Sharon Versyp announced Friday that Karissa McLaughlin would be out for the remainder of the season with a nagging ankle injury.

Over the summer, McLaughlin had offseason ankle surgery and was set to be sidelined for the entire year. She then returned to action in Purdue’s first Big Ten win over the season against Penn State on December 20th. This came as a surprise to many as she was supposed to be out for the season as mentioned before.

She was not able to get back into her previous form as she posted a line of just 7.6 points and 1.7 assists on only 35% shooting from the field and 28% from behind the three point line.

It begs the question on if she came back too fast, which would appear to be a yes at this point in time. It is tough for players, especially of her caliber, to be forced out with an injury and although this is just speculation, could have been the reason for her short recovery time.

This situation makes McLaughlin’s future with Purdue very unclear. She could return next year thanks to the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility for winter sport athletes. She has the talent to throw her name in the WNBA Draft or could transfer elsewhere for a fresh start with Sharon Versyp seemingly on her way out.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Jaelynn Penn Opts Out for Remainder of 2020-21 Season

Penn has played 11 games this season, averaging 9.5 points per game as one of Indiana's starting guards.

www.si.com

One note from a week ago: Hoosier Jaelynn Penn opted out of the remainder of season.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana senior guard Jaelynn Penn has decided to opt out for the rest of the 2020-21 season, per a release from the program.

Penn has played 11 games this season, averaging 9.5 points per game as one of Indiana's starting guards.

Penn injured her ankle against Maryland on Jan. 4 and missed a couple of games, but she was able to return from it and has played the last three games.

She had offseason surgery to repair her plantar fasciitis before this year, but recovered from it before the season started.

Penn is one of Indiana's best three-point shooters and best wing defenders. Without her for the rest of the season, Indiana will likely start Nicole Cardaño-Hillary in her place and need more bench contributions as well.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Danielle Patterson Opts Out for Remainder of 2020-21 Season

Danielle Patterson joins Jaelynn Penn as the second Hoosier to opt out in the middle of the season.

www.si.com

Hoosier Danielle Patterson opts out of remainder of season.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After Indiana's 58-50 win over Illinois on Sunday, head coach Teri Moren announced that Danielle Patterson has chosen to opt out for the remainder of the season.

"She's decided to opt out," Moren said. "She and I spoke on Monday, and she and her family decided it was best for her to step back, so she's opted out."

It was a game in which Moren used most of the bench, but Patterson didn't play, which prompted the question if Patterson was dealing with an injury.

Patterson now joins Jaelynn Penn as the second Hoosier to opt out this season. Penn opted out on Feb. 7.

Patterson appeared in 15 games off the bench for Indiana this season, averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game. She transferred to Indiana from Notre Dame and sat out the 2019-20 season with the Hoosiers due to transfer rules while also recovering from a leg injury.

With Patterson out for the season, Indiana will need even more contributions from its bench. Over the past couple of games, players like Grace Waggoner, Kiandra Browne, Chloe Moore-McNeil, Arielle Wisne and Paige Price have provided solid minutes off the bench

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Women's college basketball's top 10 transfers for 2020-21

From graduate students bringing experience to sophomores who have found a better fit, we rank the best transfers who have elevated their teams.

www.espn.com

Mechelle Voepel lists her top ten transfers. It's Maryland heavy at the top.

1. Destiny Slocum who played her freshman year at Maryland
2. Shakira Austin who transferred from Maryland
3. Kierstan Bell who transferred from Ohio State to FCGU

4. Katie Benzan, Maryland, guard

After three years as an all-Ivy League performer for Harvard, Benzan brought instant offense to the Terrapins. She is averaging 15.2 PPG and is shooting 51.1 percent from long range, leading Maryland with 68 3-pointers. Benzan also has 56 assists and 26 steals -- second on the team in both categories to Ashley Owusu -- and just 20 turnovers, the least of any of the Terp starters.


5. Chloe Bibby, Maryland, forward/guard

A senior from Australia, she spent her first three seasons at Mississippi State, although an ACL injury cut short her 2018-19 season. Bibby is averaging 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds, and her 40 3-pointers are second on the team to Benzan. With Maryland having lost all but Owusu from its starting five last year due to graduation and transfers, Benzan and Bibby, along with another transfer, sophomore Mimi Collins, have Maryland in the hunt again for the Big Ten title.

And in the also considered list there's ex-Terp Taylor Mikesell alongside Destiny PItts.

Also considered: Trinity Baptiste, Arizona; Vivian Gray, Texas Tech; Bianca Jackson, Florida State; Taylor Mikesell, Oregon; Destiny Pitts, Texas A&M)

 

[thatjanelpick]

Nebraska is in the WNIT and, based on Missouri's losing record, looks like the Gophers could have been if they were healthy?

2021 field announced for 32-team Postseason WNIT

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – After fighting through adversity and complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, an impressive group of 32 teams kept up the fight all season and has been selected to play in the 2021 Postseason WNIT.

womensnit.com