Big Ten women's basketball steps into the spotlight on Wednesday, as No. 10 Ohio State travels to face No. 23 Minnesota while conference tournament seeding hangs in the balance.

The Buckeyes will look to bounce back from Sunday's 76-75 upset loss to No. 14 Maryland. Ohio State surrendered a 19-point lead to the Terrapins in the second half, falling behind despite guard Jaloni Cambridge scoring 29 points while Chance Gray added a season-high 25.

"That's sort of the story of being in the Big Ten," Buckeyes head coach Kevin McGuff said postgame. "You play so many great teams, and how you handle adversity goes a long way."

Ohio State currently sits fourth in the Big Ten women's basketball standings. However, the Gophers trail OSU by just one game, as Minnesota enters Wednesday's contest riding an eight-game winning streak. The hot streak earned them their first AP Top 25 ranking of the season this week.

Minnesota excels at protecting the basketball in Big Ten play, averaging 10.4 turnovers per game — the fewest in the conference. During their winning streak, that number dropped to 9.8 per game.

"We've built a lot of chemistry over the last couple years," Gophers center Sophie Hart told reporters. "I think that's showing up right now. We're just playing together as a team and having a lot of fun doing it."

The Big Ten tournament tips off March 4th, with the top four finishers receiving first-round byes and advancing directly to the quarterfinals. Just five games remaining in the regular season.

How to watch Ohio State vs Minnesota in Big Ten women's basketball

OSU takes on Minnesota on Wednesday at 8 PM ET, live on Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten showed off its depth in women's basketball this week, as a record-tying nine teams from the conference made Monday's AP Top 25 poll.

With three teams — No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Maryland — still in the Top 10, the Big Ten has tied its own record for ranked squads set in December 2024, as No. 24 Nebraska joined this week's list following a 9-0 start to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season.

"I've been honored to be a part of this league for the last 13 seasons, working on year 14, where I've watched the [Big Ten] just get better and better," said Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico after Monday's poll drop.

No Big Ten team had a more dramatic weekend than Maryland, who kept their season's unbeaten streak alive with a furious comeback to defeat unranked Minnesota 100-99 in double overtime on Sunday.

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Despite falling behind by nine points in the second overtime period, the Terrapins executed an 8-0 run in just nine seconds to put the game within reach, before guard Saylor Poffenbarger hit the game-winner with just 11 seconds remaining.

"Maryland has a standard," Poffenbarger said after her team-leading 30-point, 10-rebound double-double performance on Sunday. "When you come to Maryland, you know the things that come with it."

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 6

1. UConn (9-0, Big East)
2. Texas (10-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (9-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (9-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (10-0, SEC)
6. Michigan (8-1, Big Ten)
7. Maryland (11-0, Big Ten)
8. TCU (10-0, Big 12)
9. Oklahoma (9-1, SEC)
10. Iowa State (10-0, Big 12)
11. Iowa (9-0, Big Ten)
12. UNC (9-2, ACC)
13. Baylor (9-1, Big 12)
14. Vanderbilt (9-0, SEC)
15. Kentucky (10-1, SEC)
16. USC (7-2, Big Ten)
17. Ole Miss (8-1, SEC)
18. Tennessee (6-2, SEC)
19. Notre Dame (6-2, ACC)
20. Washington (8-1, Big Ten)
21. Ohio State (7-1, Big Ten)
22. Louisville (8-3, ACC)
23. Oklahoma State (10-1, Big 12)
24. Nebraska (9-0, Big Ten)
25. Michigan State (8-1, Big Ten)

UConn’s Paige Bueckers grew up watching basketball in her home state of Minnesota. She has memories of Lynx and Golden Gophers games at Williams Arena — she attended those games starting when she was 10 or 12 years old.

Now, Bueckers will return to The Barn, but not as a spectator.

“It’s super surreal because I grew up going to games at The Barn and watching the Gophers and watching the Lynx play there,” Bueckers said to the Hartford Courant. “So to be playing there, where I grew up, my childhood, at my dream school wearing a UConn jersey in that arena, it’s like a surreal feeling for me.”

The Huskies are set to take on the Gophers in Minnesota at 5 p.m. ET Sunday in a homecoming game for Bueckers. Bueckers will be taking the same court her childhood idols took over a decade ago.

“I envisioned it when I was younger,” Bueckers said. “Just wanting to be the people who were playing on the court. As a young kid, that was where I wanted to be. You never knew what the future was going to hold, but it was something I aspired to do.”

UConn’s head coach Geno Auriemma goes out of his way to schedule homecoming games for his seniors, including two international matchups this season — one for Nika Mühl in Croatia during the Huskies’ preseason tour and one for Aaliyah Edwards in Toronto, which will be played in December.

Williams Arena is likely to be packed when the local star makes her return — more than 10,000 seats are expected to be filled when Bueckers takes the court at the 14,625-seat arena.

Among those 10,000 people will be Bueckers’ family, friends and other Minnesotans in the basketball community. And Bueckers credits these people with her upbringing.

“You often hear the phrase ‘Minnesota nice,’” Bueckers told CT Insider. “I think everything around here, just everybody knows everybody. Everybody’s nice to each other. Everybody’s like family once you meet them. So, I think that just is sort of why I love relationships, why I love people so much and why I love getting to know people so much and I think that has a lot to do with where I’m from.”

But for Bueckers, a homecoming game isn’t just about seeing family and friends. It’s about being who Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsey Whalen were to her for other young girls.

“I want to be an inspiration to kids,” Bueckers said. “I want people to see that injuries happen, adversity happens, but what do you do to come back from it? How hard do you attack that process? I want people to see passion when they see me play, fire and energy and that I love the game.”

Lindsay Whalen has resigned as head coach of Minnesota women’s basketball, the school announced Thursday.

During Whalen’s tenure, which began in 2018, the Gophers went 71-76 overall and 32-58 in the Big Ten. Minnesota failed to reach the NCAA Tournament under Whalen, but did make a WNIT appearance in the 2018-19 season.

The Gophers’ 2022-23 season ended Wednesday with a 72-67 loss to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They finished with a 11-19 record.

Whalen was scheduled to appear at a press conference with athletic director Mark Coyle but did not do so. While Coyle said she was meeting with staff, Whalen later addressed her absence via her Twitter account.

“Close circuit to all local media: I will be ‘appearing’ and ‘showing up’ for a press conference in the near future,” Whalen wrote. “My sincere apologies for not being there today as I was overcome with emotion in the elevator on my way to the press conference. I am a human being.

“Also I’ve shown up every single day while playing at the U, playing for the Lynx, and coaching at the U. Add up the years. Apologies if this hasn’t been enough. I’ll be available when the time is right.”

Just a year ago, Whalen signed a contract extension that would have taken her through the 2024-25 season. According to the school, Whalen will remain with the university as a special assistant to Coyle.

“Together, we just felt like now is the right time for her to step down,” Coyle told reporters. “She’s still going to be part of our program. She is so much loved in these hallways and these buildings. Obviously, she’s an icon. She’s on the Mount Rushmore in the state of Minnesota.”