Top 10 Ballers in 2023-2024 Big Ten Women's Basketball
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5. Sara Scalia | Indiana | Senior
2023-2024 Team Record: 19-3 Overall, 10-2 Big Ten (3rd)
2023-2024 Stats: 22 GP, 32.1 MPG, 16.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG, 44.1% FG/44.7% 3/88.4% FT
Scalia's first season in Bloomington was not overly inspiring (9.5 PPG on 35.6% shooting overall and 34.4% from downtown in 2022-2023), but she has undoubtedly turned the corner in year two. She has the 13th highest 3-point shooting percentage in the nation, and you really could not ask for a much better complement on the outside to Mackenzie Holmes on the inside. Her performance down the stretch will go a long way in determining how far her team can truly go.
4. Alexis Markowski | Nebraska | Junior
2023-2024 Team Record: 15-8 Overall, 7-5 Big Ten (tied for 4th)
2023-2024 Stats: 23 GP, 29.0 MPG, 16.5 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 46.5% FG/25.9% 3/70.0% FT
Alexis Markowski is one of the more intriguing hoopers currently in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers' starting center utilizes her towering stature (6'3") to control the boards and battle down low while using her semi-silky shooting stroke to keep defenders honest. Perhaps she does not have the prettiest shooting percentage, but having that respect at least makes her a more dangerous threat with or without the ball in her hands.
3. Jacy Sheldon | Ohio State | Senior
2023-2024 Team Record: 20-3 Overall, 11-1 Big Ten (tied for 1st)
2023-2024 Stats: 23 GP, 33.0 MPG, 17.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 49.7% FG/34.5% 3/86.8% FT
Jacy Sheldon has been among the elite Big Ten guards since she entered the fold back in 2019-2020. She has once again spearheaded a dominant Buckeye team, putting up a plethora of points offensively while again serving as a pest defensively. Sheldon will be key for OSU as we approach tourney time.
2. Mackenzie Holmes | Indiana | Senior
2023-2024 Team Record: 19-3 Overall, 10-2 Big Ten (3rd)
2023-2024 Stats: 22 GP, 29.0 MPG, 20.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 66.4% FG/16.7% 3/72.9% FT
Holmes has undoubtedly left her mark as not only one of the greatest lady Hoosier hoopers in history, but as one of the greatest hoopers in the history of Big Ten women's basketball. If she gets the ball inside, you may as well just tack two tallies on the board and proceed to the other end of the floor. She will be sorely in Bloomington missed once the season concludes, but for the time being we will continue to sit back and appreciate her greatness.
1. Caitlin Clark | Iowa | Senior
2023-2024 Team Record: 22-2 Overall, 11-1 Big Ten (tied for 1st)
2023-2024 Stats: 24 GP, 33.8 MPG, 32.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 8.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 47.7% FG/39.6% 3/86.1% FT
Surprised? You should not be. Nobody has been able to contain Caitlin Clark in 2023-2024, but was anybody realistically expected to be able to? Clark will inevitably go down as the best basketball player in the history of Big Ten women's hoops, and there will be a legitimate argument for her case as the best basketball player in the history of women's college hoops, period. The WNBA does not even need to announce her as the #1 pick in this year's draft, she may as well just move her belongings into her new locker with the Indiana Fever at the conclusion of the 2023-2024 NCAA season.