Monika Czinano showing high level of success for Iowa women’s basketball

Iowa women’s basketball junior center Monika Czinano leads Division I women’s college basketball in field goal percentage at 70.1 percent.

Iowa+Forward%2FCenter+Monika+Czinano+watches+after+going+in+for+a+layup+during+the+Iowa+Women%E2%80%99s+Basketball+game+against+Northwestern+on+Jan.+28%2C+2021+at+Carver-Hawkeye+Arena.+Northwestern+defeated+Iowa+87-80.

Casey Stone

Iowa Forward/Center Monika Czinano watches after going in for a layup during the Iowa Women’s Basketball game against Northwestern on Jan. 28, 2021 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Northwestern defeated Iowa 87-80.

Chloe Peterson, Sports Reporter


It has been a big week for Iowa women’s basketball junior center Monika Czinano.

After a career performance against Northwestern on Jan. 28, the newly minted Big Ten Player of the Week dominated the paint to propel Iowa to a convincing win over Minnesota on Jan. 31, 94-68, earning the first Big Ten Player of the Week Award of her career.

“She had another great performance [against Minnesota] and I’m really happy for her, being a Minnesota kid,” head coach Lisa Bluder said after Iowa’s road win against Minnesota. “Coming back here and playing well in her home state, that’s really just a good feeling for her.”

In the win against Minnesota, Czinano was also able to claim bragging rights over her younger sister, Maggie Czinano, who is a 2021 Minnesota women’s basketball commit. Czinano grew up 40 minutes from the University of Minnesota campus, and the Iowa versus Minnesota women’s basketball games have become an annual rivalry in the Czinano family.

“Oh, I know [Maggie’s] mad right now,” Czinano said postgame. “I know it.”

Currently, Czinano leads Division I women’s college basketball in field-goal percentage, shooting 70.1 percent from the field this season. In the 2019-20 season, Czinano finished second in the national rankings at 67.9 percent.

“She is leading the country in field goal percentage, so that’s amazing,” Bluder said. “And what’s so great is when your players recognize that, and just keep going back to it, that’s what I love.”

Czinano has been scorching hot two games in a row for the Hawkeyes. In the Hawkeyes’ loss against Northwestern on Jan. 28, the 6-foot-3-inch center went 17-of-19 from the field for a career-high 34 points and 11 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the season. That night, Czinano made 15 consecutive shots, which is believed to be a Big Ten women’s basketball single-game record.

Czinano credited her commanding performance against Northwestern partly to her 6-foot-3-inch frame, a towering height that the Wildcats could not compete against. But Czinano had a challenge in Minnesota. The Golden Gophers boast four players who stand at 6-foot-3-inches on their roster.

The height didn’t faze Czinano, as the Watertown, Minnesota, native continued her dominance against Minnesota with the help of her teammates on Jan. 31, going 11-of-14 from the field for 23 points. Czinano commends her partner-in-crime, freshman point guard Caitlin Clark, for her powerful performance in the paint.

“My teammates definitely set me up, I got some really good passes [against Minnesota],” Czinano said. “Caitlin had some great passes in transition that were just perfect. I had wide open layups every time.”

And Czinano’s recent success comes as no surprise to her teammates, who see her commanding performances in practice every day.

“She’s doing an amazing job, and it happens in practice every single day,” sophomore forward McKenna Warnock said. “Not many people see that, but she’s having 30 points every practice in our little scrimmages that we do. It’s not like she doesn’t work hard, she’s one of the hardest working people that I’ve had the experience playing with.”

Czinano will look to continue her success on the court against No. 11 Ohio State in Columbus Thursday night.