This is just cool.
Such is the message of Iowa women’s basketball head coach Jan Jensen to her players as the allure and aura of March Madness envelops Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Whether it’s the bright blue logo on the court’s jumbotron, banners reading “Four It All” draped over yellow railings, or a large copy of the bracket hung on a whiteboard, the Hawkeyes can’t ignore their impressive circumstances.
One year removed from playing in Norman, Oklahoma, as a No. 6 seed, Iowa returns to the NCAA Tournament as the selection committee’s sixth-best squad. The Hawkeyes will host the first two rounds of the Big Dance as a No. 2 seed, eyeing a return to the Sweet 16, which they fell short of last season.
The turnaround is somewhat surprising, even to Jensen, who led Iowa to consecutive 20-win seasons so far during tenure and is a semifinalist for the Naismith Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
“I thought we had a shot, but I don’t think any of us would predict, ‘Yeah, they’re so good.’” Jensen said Friday.
Regardless of expectations, Iowa is where it is for a reason. For Jensen, her Hawkeyes can’t lose sight of that fact.
“We’ve just got to do what we are,” she said. “It’s awesome. We’ve got this. And now let’s do what we’ve done to get here.”
Jensen didn’t hesitate to claim Iowa’s 26-6 season is already a success, but added the “icing on the cake” arrives in March. A potential return to the national title game starts Saturday when Iowa hosts 15th-seeded Fairleigh-Dickinson. While FDU sits 30-4 overall and has won 22 consecutive contests, betting lines eye Iowa as a 30-point favorite. Jensen said even with a home crowd as support, pressure mounts for high seeds.
“Everybody in the country that’s playing the first game, everybody playing it now, it’s just big,” Jensen said. “Because if you don’t handle it, you all go home.”
A former player and coach at Drake, Jensen knows not to take mid-major programs lightly. She scheduled Fairfield, a team in both this and last year’s NCAA Tournament, for a November game for a reason. Similar to Fairfield, FDU ranks among the top-15 in Division I in three-point attempts (26.6 per game) and in the top-40 in three-point percentage (34.81 percent).
“A bit of my heart always respects that,” Jensen said. “That’s why you do play some of those smaller teams that are really good, because they challenge you in a different way in the regular season.”
Sixth-year senior Kylie Feuerbach knows home court advantage in the postseason, playing as a No. 2, then No. 1 seed during Iowa’s consecutive national championship appearances. Her advice to younger teammates not accustomed to the atmosphere: stay the course, but not that they need any reminder.
“Obviously, there’s a ton on the line, so they have to obviously realize that,” Feuerbach said. “But I think the younger girls are very wise, and they have a very good IQ of what’s going on, so there’s not much I necessarily need to explain.”
When asked what could be learned from last year’s postseason run, Feuerbach clarified every team is different. Nevertheless, last March provided a springboard for then-first-years Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow.
Heiden never scored in double digits during the regular season before tallying 15 in the first round against Murray State. Same for Stremlow, who registered 10 points on 66 percent shooting.
“It was very confidence-inducing,” Heiden said. “I think that carried over for her too this year, and she’s doing great this year.”
Indeed, Heiden and Stremlow are two of Iowa’s top-four scorers, with Heiden in a starting role all season and Stremlow inserted in the first five in early February.
The pair relish the familiarity of home court, especially decked out in March Madness garb, but also accept the rules of the tournament: single elimination. A successful season may have been achieved, but a lasting legacy remains yet to be accomplished.
“I think the challenge is March Madness in general,” Stremlow said. “You can’t underestimate anybody. We know that we’re going to have to be ready for this game.”