Big Ten Women’s Basketball Update
As the calendar turns to 2022, conference play is heating up in the Big Ten. Two of the conference’s hottest teams will square off Tuesday when #8 Michigan visits Nebraska for a 9pm matchup. The Wolverines and Huskers are both 12-1 this season, with Michigan off to a 3-0 start in Big Ten play, while Nebraska has split its first two conference contests. For the second consecutive season, Michigan is off to a 12-1 start, the best record through 13 games in program history. Among this year’s record are three wins over Top 25 opponents, including a 74-68 overtime win over No. 5 Baylor on December 19th. It was the Wolverines’ first-ever win against a top-five opponent. Nebraska opened this season with 12 consecutive wins, the second-longest winning streak to begin a season in school history. In 2009-10, Nebraska opened with 30 consecutive wins enroute to a #1 seed and Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Following Tuesday night’s broadcast of the Michigan-Nebraska game, the Big Ten Network will debut its latest documentary “The B1G Story: Naz Hillmon”, spotlighting the many accomplishments on and off the court by the Wolverines’ All-America forward and the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year (the first Wolverine ever to earn that honor).
Indiana picked up its first win in 12 series meetings with Maryland, defeating the Terrapins, 70-63 in overtime on Sunday afternoon before a national television audience and more than 5,500 fans at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The victory also extended the Hoosiers’ regular-season conference winning streak to 12 games, dating back to last year. Indiana carries a 10-game road winning streak into Wednesday’s contest at Wisconsin (7:30 on B1G+). The Hoosiers have the nation’s second-longest active road winning streak behind only Florida Gulf Coast (22).
Maryland returns home to XFINITY Center Thursday to face Penn State (6pm). The Terrapins will enter that game tied with Stephen F. Austin for the nation’s longest active home winning streak (30 games). Maryland’s current run began Nov. 17, 2019, with a victory over Delaware, while the school record of 48 consecutive home wins occurred from 2007-10.
Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 44 points, the most ever by a women’s basketball player at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Sunday’s 93-56 win over Evansville. Clark also topped the 1,000-point mark in the first quarter of what was her 40th career game, becoming the fastest Big Ten player ever to reach that milestone
As of Tuesday, the Big Ten leads all Division I conferences in field-goal percentage (.440), while ranking second in scoring (72.0 ppg.) and three-point field-goal percentage (.334), and third in free throw percentage (.724), with the latter category fueled by Iowa’s nation-leading .837 mark from the stripe. Only 16 teams in NCAA Division I were averaging 80 or more points per game, and four of those reside in the Big Ten – Ohio State (5th – 83.5 ppg.), Nebraska (9th – 82.4 ppg.), Maryland (12th – 81.4 ppg.) and Iowa (16th – 81.0 ppg.). No other conference in the country has more than two teams currently averaging 80 points per game.
Waldron Arts Center Reopens
Bloomington’s Waldron Arts Center reopened on January 4th for use by the public and visual and performing artists. This follows a 21-month closure, during which time the City of Bloomington completed repairs to both stabilize and upgrade the facility. Large events are not expected to take place in the venue until later in the year due to the recent rise in COVID cases, and a reopening celebration originally planned for Friday, January 7th will be rescheduled.
Repair of the facility follows recommendations made by the community-led Waldron Task Force (bloomington.in.gov/news/2021/05/06/4840). In May of 2021 Mayor Hamilton announced a $515,000 commitment for capital improvements to address deferred maintenance on the facility. In keeping with its commitment to make the building once again safe and welcoming, the City upgraded the building’s HVAC system to comply with Actors Equity Association requirements, restored the building’s windows in an historically accurate manner, completed roof repairs and tuck pointing on the north and west sides of the building, upgraded all light fixtures to LED, and repaired water damage throughout the building. Currently, the City is working to repair the downspout filtration system to prevent future flooding in the building.
For the first six months of 2022, the City will manage the Waldron, facilitating programs and exhibitions. As recommended by The Waldron Task Force, the City is in negotiations with a third-party for long term management of the building beginning in July of this year. The ownership of the Waldron reverted to the City of Bloomington in January 2021 following its use by Ivy Tech Community College as classroom, performance and display space since 2010.
January 10, 2022 Virtual Indiana Military Veterans Legislative Day
Learn more about potential laws which specifically impact the lives of Indiana Veterans here
This Week in Hoosier History
1884 – Dr. Mary Hamilton Swindler was born in Bloomington. She earned degrees from Indiana University and Bryn Mawr, where she taught archeology for 37 years. She played a large role in helping launch the careers of young archeologists. In 1932, she was the first woman appointed to serve as editor of the American Journal of Archeology.
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Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here