A preseason tradition regardless of the sport is looking ahead at the upcoming season’s schedule. The same applies to the Iowa women’s basketball team, who has a challenging slate of opponents in front of it this season.

After Iowa’s Elite Eight run last season, the Hawkeyes will be a target for opponents this season, regardless of the players the team lost from that team. Iowa faces a solid non-conference schedule again this season, paired with an always difficult Big Ten schedule.

Iowa begins the season with multiple home games, including an exhibition against Winona State on Nov. 3. That matchup will be a much-needed warm-up heading into the regular season.

“Every team has to have a couple of games to learn from,” sophomore forward Monika Czinano said. “We go against our grey squad in practice, but that’s not exactly the same as going against other basketball players.”

The team will be eased into the season with some winnable matches before traveling to Cedar Falls to take on in-state rival Northern Iowa. The Panthers return several starters, including guard Karli Rucker, who lead the team in scoring with 15 points per game.

A trip to Puerto Rico will be a nice break from the Iowa winter, with three winnable games against Cincinnati, Towson, and Washington. Cincinnati will be the most difficult opponent for Iowa on the trip, but the Hawkeyes should shoot for a reasonable 7-0 start to the season.

After the Puerto Rico classic is where the competition begins to heat up. This stretch of non-conference play will be important in setting expectations for the season.

After Thanksgiving break, the Hawkeyes welcome a hungry Clemson team that made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 17 years last season. Although the Tigers lost two starters, the team’s leading scorer Keli Thornton returned and will be a difficult game for Iowa.

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Another wrinkle in the game is now graduated Tania Davis’s return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, after Davis joined the Tigers’ coaching staff during the offseason.

After the game against the Tigers, the Hawkeyes will travel to Ames for the annual Cy-Hawk rivalry game against Iowa State. The Cyclones will be a tough out with the team finishing 17th in the final coaches poll. The team returns two starters and will look to replicate an offense that finished ranked 13th in the nation in points scored per game.

After the big game against the Cyclones, the Hawkeyes finish up the non-conference slate at home against North Carolina Central and Drake, the latter of which head coach Lisa Bluder had high praise.

“Drake’s expected to have one of their best teams in a long time, so we’re excited to bring them in and we’re glad we don’t have to play them in Des Moines,” she said.

The Bulldogs will be another difficult opponent to round out non-conference play, with the team returning many impact players of a team that made it to the NCAA Tournament and dominated the Missouri Valley Conference. Seniors Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine return, averaging a combined 38 points per game.

The Bulldogs averaged 80.5 points per game last season, good for 10th, the team also finished with a top-10 field goal percentage in the country.

The Hawkeyes will receive their fair share of challenges during non-conference play. Games against Iowa State, Drake, Clemson, and Princeton will be particularly testing, but Iowa can use the balanced schedule to figure out its new team identity.