Iowa women’s basketball, in conjunction with the Big Ten Conference, announced its 2020-21 women’s basketball schedule Monday afternoon – just two days before the season is officially slated to begin.

In four non-conference games, Iowa will play three in-state foes. The Hawkeyes’ season tips off against Northern Iowa at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa will then go on the road for a Dec. 2 matchup with Drake before it comes home for a Cy-Hawk showdown with Iowa State Dec. 9.

One conference game with Wisconsin is woven into Iowa’s non-conference schedule Dec. 5. The Badgers will meet the Hawkeyes in Iowa City in what will amount to be the Big Ten’s first women’s basketball game of the 2020-21 season.

A non-conference game against Western Illinois Dec. 22 is also scheduled in the midst of Iowa’s 20-game conference slate.

Last season, the Hawkeyes were 23-7 before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19. The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 21 in the nation by the Associated Press after posting a 14-4 conference record.

After losing to sixth-seeded Ohio State as a three seed in last year’s Big Ten Tournament, Iowa enters the 2020-21 season unranked in the AP poll. The Hawkeyes also lost 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year Kathleen Doyle to the WNBA Draft.

No fans will be allowed inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season. Instead, fan cutouts will fill the seats.

The Big Ten’s schedule was created with maximum flexibility for rescheduling games to accommodate the conference’s stringent medical protocols that were adopted Sept. 16. Corresponding bye weeks are built into the schedule, and a collapsible bye is available during the final week of the regular season, if needed.

As a result of this schedule optimization, the 28th Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse from Mar. 9-13. Traditionally, the tournament has been held during the first week in March. In 2020, the tournament was played Mar. 4-8.

Below is Iowa’s complete schedule:

Nov. 25 – Northern Iowa

Dec. 2 – at Drake

Dec. 5 – Wisconsin

Dec. 9 – Iowa State

Dec. 12 – at Michigan State

Dec. 19 – at Ohio State

Dec. 22 – Western Illinois

Dec. 31 – Rutgers

Jan. 3 – at Illinois

Jan. 6  – Minnesota

Jan. 9 – at Northwestern

Jan. 13 – Ohio State

Jan. 18 – Purdue

Jan. 21 – at Maryland

Jan. 24 – at Rutgers

Jan. 28 – Northwestern

Jan. 31 – at Minnesota

Feb. 7 – Indiana

Feb. 10 – at Nebraska

Feb. 18 – Penn State

Feb. 21 – at Indiana

Feb. 25 – Michigan

Feb. 28 – at Wisconsin

Mar. 5 – Nebraska