Makenzie Meyer

Lily Smith

Iowa guard Makenzie Meyer looks to the hoop during the Iowa/Arkansas-Pine Bluff basketball game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. The Hawkeyes defeated the Golden Lions, 85-45.

Pete Ruden, Sports Editor

Makenzie Meyer will play a big role for the Hawkeyes this year.

While she was not named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team like forward Megan Gustafson or guard Kathleen Doyle, there is no denying her ability to fill up the bucket from beyond the arc.

Meyer shot 37.8 percent from 3-point range last year, leading the team out of players with at least 55 attempts from deep.

While defenses are focusing on Gustafson’s dominance in the paint, she will have the chance to kick it out to a hot shooter on the wing.

After averaging 27.5 points, on 67.1 percent shooting, and grabbing 123 offensive boards during the 2017-18 season, teams will have no choice but to put more bodies on Gustafson in the paint. She’s just too dominant to leave one-on-one.

Someone will benefit from being left open. Meyer is the perfect candidate for Iowa to shoot open 3s, if the team can get her the ball.

It could be the team as a whole benefiting from Gustafson being covered, but that could also come back to Meyer.

Meyer logged the fourth-most minutes out of returning players, meaning she will be on the floor when Gustafson is.

Just as Jordan Bohannon benefits from Tyler Cook’s presence on the men’s side, Meyer will get buckets if given the ball, thanks to the increased attention on Gustafson.

No matter who will complement Gustafson the best, one thing is for sure: Gustafson will still have a heck of a season, and we are only about a week away from watching it.