The big difference between men's and women's basketball teams in the Big Ten this year seems to be having a star-quality player versus having a deep, balanced attack. Unlike their male counterparts, women's teams that do not possess a star player are more successful.

For example, Michigan features Jalen Rose; Glenn Robinson stars for Purdue. Of the top 10 scorers in Big Ten women's basketball, only Purdue's Leslie Johnson, fifth at 17.8 points per game, and Iowa's Necole Tunsil, 10th at 15.7 ppg, are members of a high-ranked team.

Even so, both the No. 9 Boilermakers (20-4, 11-2 second place) and No. 15 Hawkeyes (16-5, 9-4 third place) feature a balanced scoring attack, and don't rely solely on their big scorer.

Ironically, the conference's top scorers, Minnesota's Carol Ann Shudlick (24.9 ppg), Ohio State's Katie Smith (22.4 ppg), Michigan State's Kisha Kelley (19.1 ppg) and Wisconsin's Barb Franke (18.8 ppg), play for teams in the lower division of the standings.

But the No. 2 Lady Lions (20-1, 11-1 first place) feature two players in the bottom half of the scoring leaders, Katina Mack (13.9 ppg) and Helen Holloway (12.7 ppg). Already this season, three different Lady Lions (Mack, Holloway and Tina Nicholson) have received player of the week honors. Add Jackie Donovan to that trio, and Penn State has four players registering double figures.

"The key to Penn State is their balance and depth," Northwestern Coach Don Perrelli said.

With four teams (Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota and Michigan State) tied with 6-6 records for fourth place, and last season's co-champions Iowa and Ohio State (12-10, 5-7) in the midst of disappointing seasons, the Big Ten has been an unpredictable conference.

"It's kind of a puzzle. There are no automatic wins, no cupcakes, no gimme games. You have to be prepared to play," Purdue Coach Lin Dunn said. "It's kind of a weird year."

Northwestern at Purdue (Sunday at 2 p.m.)

Perrelli's Wildcats visit the Boilermakers to cap a weekend of traveling through the state of Indiana. After Northwestern (14-7, 6-6) faces the Hoosiers (15-6, 6-6) at Assembly Hall Friday to break the fourth-place tie, it meets Dunn's squad.

Purdue leads the conference series between the two teams, 16-15, but Northwestern is rapidly moving up through the Big Ten standings and coming off victories over Illinois (8-14, 3-10), 76-65, and Wisconsin (12-10, 5-8), 79-54. The Boilermakers, however, were crushed at Iowa, 62-48 and then squeaked by Minnesota, 76-68.