After a close 68-66 defeat at the hands of an unbeaten Michigan State squad, the No. 22 Iowa women’s basketball team is poised to return to the court to take on Northern Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday.
The game against the Spartans was the Hawkeyes’ first taste of Big Ten play this season, while the contest against the Panthers will be Iowa’s last non-conference competition of the regular season, with future opponents including Big Ten competitors Wisconsin, Maryland, and Penn State.
The Hawkeyes fought through four quarters and fell just short of Michigan State in Sunday’s game, in a two-point win for the undefeated Spartans. While Iowa kept a crucial lead for just over half of the contest, Michigan State rallied in the fourth quarter to take a narrow margin before time ran out, advancing the Spartans, now No. 15, to remain undefeated.
Third-year Hannah Stuelke led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 18 points, followed by fourth-year Lucy Olsen with 13 points as well as fourth-year Kylie Feuerbach with 12 points from threes.
Iowa led the game for longer than Michigan State, but the Spartans outscored the Hawkeyes in several key areas, such as points in the paint, 28-20, and second-chance points, 17-6.
Turnovers once again proved to be part of Iowa’s downfall; while the Hawkeyes kept themselves comfortably below the 30 turnovers that plagued their 78-68 loss to Tennessee, Iowa still recorded 23 turnovers over the course of the contest, compared to Michigan State’s less-harmful 14 turnovers. This also saw the Spartans lead in points from turnovers, 14-11.
Both teams were arguably among each other’s toughest opponents of the season; Michigan State was averaging just over 91 points per game in the regular season prior to the matchup but recorded less than 70 against Iowa’s defense, which also out-rebounded the Spartans, 44-35.
Ultimately, Michigan State’s 14-point scoring run in the fourth quarter was the final nail in the coffin for the Hawkeyes, and Iowa’s first Big Ten game came to an end as a 68-66 loss.
Following the loss, the Hawkeyes will now finish the non-conference part of their season with Friday’s game against Northern Iowa, now 5-5 after their own 68-53 loss to South Dakota State on Saturday.
Iowa is a heavy favorite to win, according to analysts, with ESPN Analytics giving the Hawkeyes an 89.8 percent chance of success over the Panthers. Additionally, with both of Iowa’s losses on a neutral or away floor, the Hawkeyes remain undefeated at home. The atmosphere of a full Carver-Hawkeye Arena may give Iowa an edge on its own.
Olsen is expected to again be a top performer for the Hawkeyes, leading the team with an average of 18.3 points per game. However, UNI is itself a strong shooting team, with fifth-year Kayba Laube their strongest shooter from beyond the arc at a 52.2 percent clip.
The Panthers have four players, including Laube, shooting above 40 percent from the three-point line. Iowa has only two players putting up similar numbers, namely third-year Taylor McCabe and first-year Aaliyah Guyton, neither of whom are regular starters.
Where the Hawkeyes have a chance to excel over UNI’s sharpshooting is in team size, with fourth-year Addison O’Grady averaging eight points per game in the paint, part of Iowa’s cumulative 36.2 points from this spot. Both teams will have to play good defense to increase their own chances of winning.
The competition is set to tip off in Carver at 6:30 p.m., with coverage from both Big Ten Plus and the Hawkeye Radio Network.