Tonight, the Iowa women’s basketball team will square off against Indiana in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, trying to do something that no team has done there this season — leave with a victory.
The Hawkeyes (15-7, 5-5 Big Ten) and Hoosiers (13-9, 5-5 Big Ten) are set to tip off at 6 p.m., with the winner taking sole possession of seventh place in the conference standings.
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder knows that her team can’t merely show up and expect a victory against the Hoosiers. Their 9-0 home record is a testament to that.
But if the Hawks are going to pull out a win at one of the toughest places to play in the country, Bluder says the time is now.
“[Indiana] shoots the ball very well on its home court,” she said at the team’s weekly press conference. “But right now is the best time that we can take our team in there.”
Riding a two-game winning streak, it’s fair to say Bluder is right. The team is clicking on all levels, specifically in the paint.
Forwards Chase Coley and Megan Gustafson have made the inside zone a house of horrors for opposing teams recently — Coley is coming off a 19-point, 7-rebound performance against Northwestern. Gustafson has had two-consecutive double-doubles, the first two of her career.
But the guard play, such as that of freshman Tania Davis, has really caught Bluder’s attention. At Northwestern, Davis took a blow to the head, resulting in a severe cut above her right eye, one that would later need stitches.
But Davis shook off the injury. She returned to the game with a butterfly bandage on her eyebrow and went on to help lead the Hawkeyes to a 79-64 victory.
“Tania just brings emotion to the floor,” Bluder said. “She brings that moxie to the floor that is just so fun. It’s fun to coach, and it’s fun to watch out there.”
Davis isn’t worried about her stitched-up eye. She’s worried about handing the Hoosiers their first home loss of the season.
“Indiana is a scoring team,” she said. “They’re playing really well right now, and we know that. Everyone in the Big Ten knows that. We’re going to have to go in there ready offensively and defensively, on the same page.”
Davis and fellow guards will be charged with the task of handling Indiana’s Tyra Buss, a sophomore guard who averages 18 points per game. The Mount Caramel, Indiana, native rarely takes breaks, averaging a whopping 37.1 minutes per game.
But in this “new season” — a mindset the team developed after its recent three-game losing streak — the players believe they can beat anyone in the country. Coley made that clear after the victory over Northwestern.
“We’ve started to play Iowa basketball,” she said. “We’re moving the ball better, and people are starting to hit their shot. We get excited in our brand-new season.”
Bluder is perhaps the most ecstatic one in the group.
