Streaks were made to be broken, even in historically lopsided Big Ten matchups. For Minnesota and Iowa, recent matchups have followed such a rule, with upsets favoring the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota men’s basketball snapped a seven-game skid last season. Last month, its men’s wrestling team topped Iowa for the first time since 2014. In women’s basketball, an 11-game Hawkeye win streak will face a potent threat Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
While seven of the last eight meetings were decided by double-digits, including a 48-point rout back in 2024, Minnesota closed the gap to just eight points last year, and this year aims for an even more competitive contest.
Sitting at 16-6 overall, ranking sixth in the Big Ten with a 7-4 conference mark, Minnesota is winners of its last four contests and is on pace for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018.
Iowa head coach Jan Jensen is well aware of the Gophers’ resurgence.
“This league [the Big Ten], one or two losses separate so many of us that are really, really good,” she said at her press conference Wednesday. “We’re going to have to bring it. We’re going to have that resiliency.”
Iowa will look for its first win since starter Taylor McCabe’s injury on Jan. 25, having dropped consecutive games out west to USC and UCLA, largely due to turnovers. The Hawkeyes committed 30 turnovers over the span and now average 15.3 per game, tied for seventh-most in the Big Ten.
Jensen attributed Iowa’s turnover woes on the road to not just defensive pressure, but also the resultant perceived “threat of pressure,” which heightens panic and leads to poor decisions. For senior Kylie Feuerbach, many of the errors occur on post-entry passes, which are a priority in the offensive game plan.
“Sometimes we might lock in on that, and we don’t realize that there’s someone there,” Feuerbach said. “Just knowing the time and place of when to pass the ball to the post.”
Minnesota forces 17.7 turnovers per game, ranking 138th in Division I. More importantly, paired with their defense is an offense not prone to mistakes. The Gophers top the list with just 10.3 turnovers per game and rank 17th in turnover margin. Except against No. 3 UCLA, Minnesota has stuck around against ranked teams, topping USC and losing by a combined 11 points to Maryland and Michigan.
“They just don’t give up,” Feuerbach said. “They’re the type of team that you can’t just let up on. So just staying focused for those full 40 minutes is gonna be really important.”
Minnesota features a well-balanced offense, with five players averaging at least 9.9 points per game. Junior Grace Grocholski leads the team with 13.4 while shooting 48.2 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks best in the Big Ten (minimum five attempts per game). Jensen also pointed to senior guard Amaya Battle, who leads the team with 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Jensen specifically highlighted Minnesota’s inside game, led by fifth-year center Sophie Hart, who averages 9.9 points per game. Hart, standing at 6-foot-5, and 6-2 senior Finau Tonga could pose problems for the Hawkeyes in the paint, especially considering UCLA’s 30-point advantage in that department over the weekend. In Jensen’s eyes, post defense against stronger players can’t be met with physicality, but rather with lateral quickness. Keeping post players out of foul trouble will be key.
“A lot of that’s mentality, a lot of that’s discipline,” Jensen said.
Iowa’s starting lineup will again feature first-year Addie Deal in place of McCabe, Jensen confirmed. Deal struggled in the trip back to her native California, scoring just three points on 1-of-9 shooting over 38 minutes of action. No longer coming off the bench, Deal doesn’t have the luxury of analyzing the defense before stepping on the court, Jensen said. With opposing scouting reports keying on rattling first-year players, the head coach acknowledged development for Deal won’t be linear, but didn’t back down in her confidence.
“I suspect she’ll be able to shake that off and come back and show all the things that we’ve seen,” Jensen said.
Iowa hosts Minnesota on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Former Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder will be the color commentator on the broadcast.