A one-week break is a “quick little reset.” That’s how Iowa first-year point guard Addie Deal sees the Hawkeyes’ six-day intermission between games, their longest of the Big Ten slate. Following a home loss to Minnesota that cemented a three-game losing streak, Iowa had to wait for its next opportunity, but wasn’t frustrated over a lapse in competition.
“Nobody wants to lose, but this is teaching us things to grow and improve on,” first-year center Layla Hays said.
Priority No. 1 on that list is defense. Head coach Jan Jensen called her squad’s performance “uninspired” against Minnesota. With No. 25 Washington visiting Carver-Hawkeye Arena Wednesday night, improvement will be necessary.
“We have to be assertive,” Jensen told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “I think if I just see a little swag again, really coming out on our ball screens, knowing our assignments and not blowing the assignments. That’ll make me feel a lot better that we’re back and locked in for the future.”
The Huskies, 18-6 overall and seventh in the Big Ten, specialize in long-range shooting. Washington sits tied for sixth in the conference with a 35.7 percent mark from beyond the arc. Second-year guard Avery Howell leads the way with a 42.7 three-point percentage. The USC transfer is followed by junior Sayvia Sellers (38.2) and senior Elle Ladine (37.7).
Jensen explained Washington also relies on the Princeton offense, which emphasizes spacing and movement without the ball, such as back cuts and off-ball screens. Assignments will be critical to keep lethal scoring threats like Howell, Sellers, and Ladine contained along the perimeter.
Following the season-ending injury of starting guard Taylor McCabe, Deal has started the last three games, averaging three points per contest on 15.9 percent shooting from the field. Before the game against Minnesota, Jensen confirmed Deal would be in the lineup despite her struggles out west against USC and UCLA. On Tuesday, the head coach was a little hesitant, describing how she’s “considering all options.”
“I’ve used a lot of analytics, looked at a lot of the stats, looked at matchups, looked at how we started games, all of the things,” Jensen said. “That’s a continual point of what I’ve been working on over the weekend. So that could definitely be a change up.”
Without McCabe’s senior leadership on the floor, the Hawkeyes will have to rely not just on fellow senior starter Hannah Stuelke, but also on sophomore Ava Heiden, Iowa’s leading scorer. During the losing streak, she collected four fouls in each contest and never logged more than 30 minutes.
For Jensen, Heiden needs to be just like the Iowa defense: more assertive. Call for the ball in the post, even if the play has gone to her on previous possessions, especially if she’s being guarded by a smaller defender.
“I’m hopeful she can get a little more vocal, and [second-year guard Chit-Chat Wright],” Jensen said. “If we can get those two to continue playing just a little bit more vocally and continue the consistency I think we’ve seen a lot of.”
Iowa and Washington will play on Wednesday, February 11, at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.