By Michael McCurdy
With two games in the books, the Iowa women’s basketball team enters the second week of the season sitting at 2-0.
After the start, the Hawkeyes have answered some preseason underlying questions regarding their inexperience, but in the process, they created more that at some point in the season will need to be addressed.
Post presence
So far this season, the offense has revolved around the post production of sophomore Megan Gustafson. Through two games, she has averaged 19.5 points along with a stellar .667 field-goal percentage. Part of the reason Gustafson has improved tremendously from last season is her ability to execute her post moves based on the position of the defender.
Last season, the 6-3 power forward sometimes struggled offensively because she had pre-determined post moves, something she said she really worked on in the off-season.
As far as the outside shooting goes, Iowa has been most effective from 3 this season when working from the inside out.
The amount of attention Gustafson draws down low makes defenses collapse, which leaves 3-point shooters wide open on the perimeter.
Gustafson is an offensive machine. This week she was honored with Big Ten Player of the Week, but with that said, she cannot play all 40 minutes. So, some other post player on the team is going to have to come in this season and produce both offensively and defensively.
So far, it looks like junior Chase Coley could fill that necessary void. She is athletic and has the potential to be as good in the post as Gustafson; it will just take time for her to mold her raw talent into muscle memory.
3-point production
The Achilles’ heel for the Hawkeyes this season might be their ability to make the 3-point basket. If they are able to consistently shoot a high percentage and play inside with Gustafson, then they are a team to watch out for.
The only problem is, through two games the Hawkeyes are 7-of -21 on 3s (33 percent). This might not seem like an alarming stat, but the Hawkeyes are not going to be able to rely on the post production and slashing of senior Ally Disterhoft all season. They will play teams coming up such as Notre Dame and Iowa State that will scout Iowa and make sure to focus on the Hawkeye’s paint production.
In order for the Hawkeyes to defeat some of the upper-echelon teams, they will need to hit open 3s distributed out from the post-interior. They have yet to showcase that this season, but remember the Hawkeyes are only two games in — tons of basketball left.
Starting lineup not a concern
Coming into the season, the Hawkeyes had three incoming freshman guards who were expected to have immediate effect. In the exhibition game, freshmen guards Bre Cera and Kathleen Doyle got the start, and Makenzie Meyer came off the bench.
In first two games of the season, Meyer got the start instead of Doyle, but in retrospect, on this team it does not matter who starts because each of the freshmen is averaging roughly around 20 minutes per game.
Each affects the game in different ways, so what really matters for Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder will be not who starts but who is playing well throughout the game and then has the ability to finish strong.
Follow @MMccurd for more information on the Iowa women’s basketball team.