Shorthanded Iowa women’s basketball team to match up with Wisconsin
The Hawkeyes will travel to Wisconsin on Thursday to take on the Badgers at the Kohl Center.
February 2, 2022
No. 21 Iowa women’s basketball lost its seven-game win streak on Monday as it fell to No. 23 Ohio State in the final seconds of a physical game.
The Hawkeyes lost to the Buckeyes, 92-88, in a game head coach Lisa Bluder thought was fraught with missed calls.
“You know, I was really pleased with our team’s effort, and I think any time you get really good effort, you can’t be disappointed with the results,” Bluder said. “Obviously, we know that game could have gone either way, a call here, a ball bounces there, and there are totally different results. So, I’m not going to fault my team’s effort or be upset with the result.”
But Bluder is making sure the Hawkeyes aren’t dwelling on the contested loss with top-10 matchups coming up. Iowa will play No. 6 Michigan twice this season, and No. 5 Indiana currently appears once on the Hawkeyes’ schedule.
“I do think you have to let it go,” Bluder said. “But you always want to learn from losses, and I think there’s things that we can learn that we could have done better. But I am not a big believer in that ‘fuel for fire’ sometimes, because we get to play the game of basketball. And if you’re excited to play the game of basketball, I don’t know what other fuel you need.”
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Before the Hawkeyes can prepare for top-10 matchups, however, they’re traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers.
Iowa hasn’t lost to Wisconsin in their past 24 matchups. Wisconsin has a 5-15 overall record and a 2-8 mark in Big Ten play.
“We’ve beaten them 24 straight times, and so you just worry about the mentality of your players going into a game like that,” Bluder said. “Where Wisconsin has gotten this one circled, and they’re saying, ‘We’re going to end that.’”
The already shorthanded Hawkeyes might be without two of their starters, who were possibly injured on Monday night against Ohio State.
Junior guard Gabbie Marshall left the game on Monday with just over a minute remaining with an undisclosed injury.
Junior forward McKenna Warnock was pushed to the ground in the final seconds of the Hawkeyes’ matchup with the Buckeyes. Athletic trainers checked on Warnock, and she could walk without assistance following the game.
Bluder did not disclose Warnock or Marshall’s injury status ahead of the Hawkeyes’ matchup with the Badgers.
Out of their roster of 13, the Hawkeyes already have four players on injured reserve. Sophomores Shateah Wetering and Sharon Goodman are out for the 2021-22 season after undergoing ACL surgery. Senior Logan Cook has a lower leg injury that has kept her out since early January.
In the Hawkeyes’ shootaround before their game with the Buckeyes, freshman AJ Ediger suffered a high ankle sprain. She was in a boot and on crutches on Monday. Bluder said Ediger will be out for a while.
Iowa will take on Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Kohl Center. The game will be streamed on BTN+.