Caitlin Clark and nine other players to watch at the Big Ten tournament at Target Center
For the second straight season, the Big Ten women's basketball tournament will be held at Target Center in Minneapolis. For the first time ever, it is sold out. The event, from Wednesday to Sunday, will feature some of the best players in the country, including presumptive national player of the year Caitlin Clark. Here are 10 players to watch:
Caitlin Clark
Iowa - 6-0 - Sr - guard
About the only thing left for Clark to do is win a national title, having won both Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to last spring's NCAA title game. the Final Four. She is the leading scorer in major colleges, ever, having passed Kelsey Plum, Lynette Woodard and Pete Maravich down the stretch of the regular season. Clark leads the nation in scoring (32.2 points per game) and assists (8.7) and enters the tournament with 17 career triple-doubles. Iowa has never lost a game when that happens.
Mackenzie Holmes
Indiana - 6-3 - Sr - forward
She limped off the court in Sunday's regular season finale, leaving uncertainty for the Hoosiers. She came back this season for her extra year of eligibility and finished behind Clark in the Big Ten in scoring, was first in the Big Ten with a field goal percentage over .650 and 10th in the conference in rebounding. She is one of the most efficient inside scorers in the conference, the perfect complement to an outside scoring attack led by Sara Scalia.
Jacy Sheldon
Ohio State - 5-10 - Sr - guard
Sheldon is the engine that runs the Ohio State machine. Doing a little of everything, Sheldon is third in the Big Ten in scoring at about 18 points per game and in the top 10 in three-point shooting percentage. More importantly, she is the leader of a balanced Buckeyes team that snared the top seed in the Big Ten Conference tournament and spearheads one of the best defenses in the conference, finishing in the top five in steals.
Sara Scalia
Indiana - 5-10 - Sr - guard
The former Stillwater and Gophers star has the Hoosiers in the title hunt. Her three-point shooting percentage (.438) is at a career high, second-best in the Big Ten. She is first in the conference in free throw percentage (.894) and has made three or more threes in a game 19 times. She had a 25-point performance in Indiana's recent victory over Iowa.
Alexis Markowski
Nebraska - 6-3 - Jr - forward/center
The leader on a Nebraska team that finished in the top four in the Big Ten, Markowski has become a double-double machine, with the most in program history. She finished in the top ten in the Big Ten in scoring, ninth in shooting percentage and second in rebounding. She averaged a double-double for the season.
Serah Williams
Wisconsin - 6-4 - Soph - forward/center
One of the most impactful underclassman in the Big Ten, Williams finished first in the conference in rebounds and blocks, fourth in scoring and fifth in shooting percentage. She is a double-double machine. She scored 20 or more points eight times and had 30 or more three times, and is the brightest star in the Badgers' program.
Shyanne Sellers
Maryland - 6-2 - Jr - guard
During a season that has been, relatively speaking, a difficult one for Maryland — the Terps finished out of the top four in the Big Ten for the first time since joining the conference for the 2014-15 season — Sellers has been a big bright spot. She leads the Terps in scoring, assists and blocks, and is in the top ten in the Big Ten in scoring, assists, free throws attempted and free throws made.
Laila Phelia
Michigan - 6-0 - Jr - guard
Phelia's trademark this year is consistency. She has scored in double figures in nearly every game. She is in the top ten in the Big Ten in free throw attempts, free throws made and scoring. She saves her best for the biggest games; she scored a season-high 26 points in Michigan's victory over Ohio State in December. She scored 20 or more points nine times.
Makira Cook
Illinois - 5-6 - Sr - guard
She has scored in double figures in all but four of her games played this year. She ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten Conference in scoring, assists and free throw shooting. She is the leader on an Illinois team that, having suffered through a difficult start to the season, could be a tough out in the conference tournament.
Hannah Stuelke
Iowa - 6-2 - Soph - forward
A model of consistency and efficiency, Stuelke has piled up the double-doubles. She had a career-high 47-point performance against Penn State and is one of the most efficient players in the Big Ten, second only to Holmes with a shooting percentage of .644.
