# 2009–10 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season

The 2009–10 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season marked the continuation of the annual tradition of competitive basketball among Big Ten Conference members.

## Offseason

* On July 30, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), on behalf of the Wade Coalition, announced the 2009-2010 preseason "Wade Watch" list for The State Farm Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year. The nominees are made up of top NCAA Division I student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade. This is based on the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability. The list of Big Ten athletes are as follows:
* Jantel Lavender, Ohio State
* Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State
* Jenna Smith, Illinois

## Preseason

* October 29: Ohio State junior Jantel Lavender was selected as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year by the conference coaches and a panel of media members.

### Preseason polls

* Coaches Polls
** 1. Ohio State
** 2. Michigan State
** 3. Minnesota
** 4. Purdue
** 5. Iowa
** 6. Illinois
** 7. Penn State
** 8. Northwestern
** 9. Indiana
** 10. Wisconsin
** 11. Michigan

### Preseason All-Big Ten Coaches Team

* JENNA SMITH, Sr., F, ILL
* Allyssa DeHaan, Sr., C, MSU
* JANTEL LAVENDER, Jr., C, OSU
* Samantha Prahalis, So., G, OSU
* Tyra Grant, Sr., F, PSU

### Preseason All-Big Ten Media Team

* Jenna Smith, Sr., F, ILL
* Allyssa DeHaan, Sr., C, MSU
* JANTEL LAVENDER, Jr., C, OSU
* Samantha Prahalis, So., G, OSU
* Tyra Grant, Sr., F, PSU

## Regular season
### November

* Nov. 11: The Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences announced the formation of an annual inter-conference challenge for women's basketball. The challenge will span at least two years and will begin in the fall of 2010. The series will feature a home-and-home format over the initial two-year agreement, and each of the Big 12's teams will play in each Challenge, while one Big Ten team, Wisconsin, will play two Challenge games each year.

### 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule

| Date | Visiting Team | Home Team | Score | Leading Scorer | Attendance |
| Dec. 2/09 | Georgia Tech | Penn State | G Tech 64-60 | Tyra Grant, PSU (20) | TBD |
| Dec. 2/09 | Illinois | Wake Forest | Illinois, 65-50 | Jenna Smith, Illinois (27) | TBD |
| Dec. 2/09 | Boston College | Iowa | BC, 72-67 | Kamilee Wahlin, Iowa (23) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Michigan | Virginia Tech | Mich, 71-51 | Veronica Hicks, Michigan (19) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Clemson | Northwestern | CLEM, 69-68 | Kirstyn Wright, Clemson (22) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Minnesota | Maryland | MD, 66-45 | Kim Rodgers, Maryland (14) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | North Carolina | Michigan State | MSU, 72-66 | Italee Lucas, North Carolina (29) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Ohio State | Duke | Duke, 83-67 | Jasmine Thomas, Duke (29) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Purdue | Virginia | VA, 56-49 | Brittany Rayburn, Purdue (19) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Florida State | Indiana | FSU, 82-74 | Jori Davis, Indiana (23) | TBD |
| Dec. 3/09 | Wisconsin | NC State | Wisc, 53-48 | Taylor Wurtz, Wisconsin (13) | TBD |

### Rankings

The rankings are based on the ESPN/USA Today poll.
| AP Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 4 |
| Illinois | NR | | | |
| Indiana | NR | | | |
| Iowa | | | | |
| Michigan | | | | |
| Michigan State | 10 | 25 | 22 | 20 |
| Minnesota | | | | |
| Northwestern | | | | |
| Ohio State | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Purdue | 23 | | | |
| Wisconsin | | | | |
^Final Poll = ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll

### In season honors
#### Players of the week

Throughout the conference regular season, the Big Ten offices named a player of the week each Monday.
* Week
* 11/16/09
* 11/23/09
* 11/30/09
* 12/7/09
* 12/14/09
* 12/21/09
* 12/28/08
* 1/4/10
* 1/11/10
* 1/18/10
* 1/25/10
* 2/1/10
* 2/8/10
* 2/15/10
* 2/22/10
* 3/1/10
* 3/8/10

#### Midseason watch lists
### Conference honors

* Honor
* Player of the Year
* Coach of the Year
* Freshman of the Year
* Defensive Player of the Year
* Sixth Woman of the Year
* All Big Ten First Team
* All Big Ten Second Team
* All Big Ten Third Team
* All-Freshman Team
* All Defensive Team

## Statistical leaders

Scoring :
| Name | School | PPG |
Rebounding :
| Name | School | RPG |
Assists :
| Name | School | APG |
Steals :
| Name | School | SPG |

## Postseason
### NCAA Tournament

| # of Bids | Record | Win % | R32 | S16 | E8 | F4 | CG |
| | 0–0 | | | | | | |

### National Invitation Tournament

| # of Bids | Record | Win % | R2 | R3 | SF | CG |
| | 0–0 | | | | | |