Following its first Big Ten championship in 40 years, Indiana women’s basketball is back among the top teams in the country.
The Hoosiers open the season ranked No. 9 in both the preseason AP Poll and coaches poll, which both came out on Tuesday.
This is the second time in program history that Indiana earned a top-10 ranking in the preseason AP poll, and this is the 17th consecutive AP Poll in which IU has placed in the top 10, dating back to week 2 of last season. Overall, it’s the 36th top-10 AP Poll ranking in program history. And this is Indiana’s sixth selection in a preseason AP Top 25.
IU is third among ranked Big Ten teams, behind No. 3 Iowa and No. 7 Ohio State. No. 14 Maryland and No. 23 Illinois bring the conference to five ranked teams.
The Big Ten also has five teams in the coaches poll, but it’s Michigan at the back in a tie for No. 25. Illinois is unranked in that poll. Iowa also has the same ranking in both polls, while Ohio State (No. 6) and Maryland (No. 11) are slightly higher.
Additionally, senior guard Sara Scalia was among the 20 players named to the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award preseason watch list by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The award is given to the top shooting guard in women’s NCAA Division I basketball. This is the second consecutive season Scalia has been named to this watch list.
Scalia averaged 9.5 points, 1.6 assists, and three rebounds per game last season while shooting 34.4 percent from 3-point range last season.
