By Jake Mosbach | [email protected]
It’s do-or-die time for the Iowa women’s basketball team.
Today, the ninth-seed Hawkeyes will square off with No. 8 Michigan in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament. And with the Hawkeyes sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble, they are desperately looking to improve their résumé.
Iowa (18-12, 8-10 Big Ten) and Michigan (17-12, 9-9 Big Ten) are scheduled to tip off at 11 a.m.
The Hawkeyes and Wolverines split their season series, with each team winning on its home court. Now in Indianapolis, it’s anyone’s game.
“It’s the rubber game; they won at their place, we won at our place. Now, it’s on a neutral court,” Hawkeye head coach Lisa Bluder said at her weekly news conference on Tuesday. “It should be a tremendous game. We want to get that Michigan game, then you never know what can happen.”
Last week, Bluder said she believed her team needed to win two games at the Big Ten Tournament to make the cut for the NCAA Tournament. Iowa’s post play could determine if that happens.
Freshman forward Megan Gustafson will be pitted against fellow freshman All-Big Ten selection Hallie Thorne. Their battle in the paint might make the difference in a crucial game.
“Our record really doesn’t show how good we can be,” Gustafson said. “I think we can make a really good run in the tournament.”
Equally important, however, is the guard play for the two teams, and Michigan may have the upper hand in sophomore Katelynn Flaherty. The 5-7 sophomore averages better than 22 points per game, and she dropped 31 on the Hawks the last time the teams met.
Bluder knows her team won’t shut down Flaherty completely. Contesting every shot, however, is a feasible goal.
“We just need to slow her down and make sure she earns her shots,” Bluder said on Tuesday. “She’s going to get some. For us to say we’re going to stop her is ridiculous.”
Iowa guard Whitney Jennings could find herself matched up against Michigan’s star guard at some point today.
Jennings, a 5-5 sophomore hailing from Logansport, Indiana, doesn’t possess the prolific offensive stats that Flaherty does. She averages 9.2 points per contest. But last season, Jennings collected the fourth-most steals (35) in school history.
That being said, Jennings’ shutdown defense will need to make an appearance today in Bankers Life Field House.
“It was nice to be able to get a win against them after kind of letting one get away at their place,” Jennings said. “We have confidence going in to this game knowing we can beat them.”
If the Hawkeyes should beat the Wolverines, they will have a monumental challenge afterwards: No. 1-seed Maryland awaits the winner.
Nevertheless, Bluder said the team would remain optimistic knowing that an NCAA Tournament berth is at stake.
“It will be a difficult week,” Bluder said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time.”
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