No. 10 Iowa women’s basketball takes on Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament semi-final at 6:30 p.m, and The Daily Iowan is breaking down the keys of the game for the Hawkeyes.

Because Iowa took down then-No. 14 Rutgers on Jan. 23, the team knows what it has to do to advance into tomorrow’s championship game.

Iowa needs to get it going from beyond the arc

The Hawkeyes are going to need a solid effort from the 3-point line to take down Rutgers tonight.

The Scarlet Knights have the top defense in the Big Ten this season, and a large part of this is their effort on the perimeter. Iowa struggled to get open looks in that first matchup, especially down the stretch – the Hawkeyes ended the game by missing five of their last six 3-point attempts.

Iowa still won the game, but a good outing from beyond the arc in tonight’s semifinal could solidify Iowa’s bid to for the championship game. Iowa is shooting the ball well right now, and it’s making a major difference for the team.

Iowa improved its 3-point shooting in last night’s game against Indiana, and it made a major difference. Indiana leads the conference in 3-point defense on the year, holding opponents to an average of 28.7 percent from beyond the arc. In the loss against the Hoosiers on Feb. 21, Iowa shot 1-for-10 in the second half in the Indiana upset.

Last night, though, was a different story, with Iowa dropping 80 percent from beyond the arc in the second half. Tania Davis and Makenzie Meyer were a combined 6-for-12 from 3-point land in the matchup.

A similar outing tonight could put Iowa over the edge, especially since 25-point games from Megan Gustafson are essentially a given barring disaster.

The Hawkeyes need to take care of the ball

The Scarlet Knights’ path to the Big Ten semifinals has been carved by its rigid defense that has held teams to a Big Ten-best 56.9 points per game.

Just twice this season, the Scarlet Knights have allowed 70 points in a game. Contrast that with Iowa, which has posted 12-straight games with at least 70 points, including its win over the Rutgers on Jan. 23.

It’s setting up to be a classic powerful offense versus stellar defense matchup, which means Iowa will have to be clinical on offense to win.

Over the course of the season, turnovers have been key to the Scarlet Knights defense. They have averaged a conference-leading 10.3 steals per game, which has helped them lead the Big Ten in forced turnovers as well at 17.8 per game.

The Scarlet Knights’ defensive prowess was on full display in the quarter-final game. Rutgers held Purdue to just 49 points, including a fourth quarter in which Purdue only managed 8 points.

As they have been all season, turnovers were the catalyst to a solid Rutgers defense, as it forced 15 Boilermaker turnovers.

If Iowa hopes to win this game, taking care of the ball will be of paramount importance. The Hawkeyes showed an ability to take care of the ball in last night’s win over Indiana, turning the ball over only twice in the final 18 minutes. However, the same could not be said for their first half, where they turned the ball over 9 times.

According to head coach Lisa Bluder, the key for Iowa maintaining possession in the second half of last game was not forcing shots. More of the same will be required from Iowa if they hope to play in the final on Sunday.

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