The Hawkeyes will be doubling up and playing Indiana twice in three days, with both games carrying weight for the Big Ten standings, as well as the NCAA Tournament picture. The Hoosiers come into the games off three games in 7 days, including a loss to Nebraska on Monday. Iowa is still searching for a ranked win and are now fighting for a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Indiana comes into the two-game weekend with a 19-4 record, 11-2 conference record, a #5 ranking and they present a pair of Quad 1 opportunities for the Hawkeyes.
“It makes it easier (to scout),” said Coach Lisa Bluder. “You only have to watch one game and it’s your game, so you’d be watching that anyway. Only having 24 hours (between matchups), it makes it a much simpler than watching the five or six games that we traditionally watch before an opponent.”
“It’s a tough stretch, but it’s also an opportunity stretch,” said Bluder as she looked ahead to the final four games of the season. “It’s their senior day…We know it’s going to be a really incredible environment (at Indiana).”
at Indiana (Saturday, February 19th) vs Indiana (Monday, February 21st)
Thursday night against Northwestern, F Mackenzie Holmes played in her first game since getting a knee operation in early January. That’s big news for the Hoosiers ahead of the weekend, even if she only had six points and six rebounds against the Wildcats.
“That poses a different risk for us because she is such a good post player,” said Bluder. “I think they missed her even though went 7-2 during that time.”
Holmes is averaging 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds over 15 starts, while she boasts an impressive 60.7 FG%. Whether Holmes scores 20 points or 8 points, the Hawkeyes will have to game-plan around her.
The Hoosiers have a quartet of scorers behind Holmes that make up 72.4% of the teams scoring and it starts with G Grace Berger. Berger is averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. She is also the team’s leading free throw shooting at 83%. F Aleksa Gulbe has stepped up with Holmes out and has scored 15+ points in five of her last nine games, including 28 against Minnesota. She also leads the team in rebounds on the season with 151 (6.6 rpg) and can shoot it from outside (39.0%).
G Nicole Cardano-Hillary averages 11.7 points per game and is the top threat behind the arc for the Hoosiers at 40.0%. Ali Patberg averages 11.6 points per game and is second on the team in assists, as a veteran seventh year senior.
The Hoosiers aren’t going to shoot you out of the gym, as they have attempted 150 less 3pt shots than the Hawkeyes and are only making them at a 33.4% clip. They do however have a pretty solid defense. Their 59.3 opponent points per game, ranks them as the 86th best scoring defense in the country, while they hold opponents to 38.8% from the floor. That ranks in the top half of college basketball. Finally, Indiana does a great job at limiting turnovers, as they are turning it over just 13.1 times per game and that ranks 29th in the country.
The Hawkeyes are expecting a big crowd at Assembly Hall for Saturday’s contest, as it is senior night, but they are 6-1 on the road in conference play, including a win in front of a good road crowd in Lincoln against Nebraska.
“We’ve played great on the road and we like silencing the crowd. I think this is another opportunity and we don’t shy away from playing on the road at all,” said Caitlin Clark. “We know we have nothing to lose.”
The other big injury news piece heading into the weekend is for the Hawkeyes, as F McKenna Warnock sounds like she is getting closer to returning to the court. Lisa Bluder says that Warnock will likely dress for the game on Saturday, but she is still unsure how much she will be able to contribute, if at all. Iowa has missed Warnock’s presence in the lineup over the last couple weeks, especially in their last two losses. Bluder was asked about the importance of getting Warnock back in the lineup soon.
“Really important,” said Bluder. “It helps our depth; it helps our rebounding. She is our best 3pt shooter in Big Ten play. It’s also her size and her physical nature that really helps us. She just gives us the height and physical presence that we really need.”
Saturday – at Indiana – 3:00pm on BTN+
Monday – vs Indiana – 7:00pm on BTN
