The break for Christmas during the basketball season is a good signification of the halfway point of the year. The non-conference portion of the season is in the rear-view mirror and the conference schedule is all that remains on the regular season slate.

It is the perfect time to take a look at how the season has gone to this point and what needs fixing going into the most important stretch of the season. With that, we will take a look at how the Iowa Women’s basketball team has fared to this point of the year.

Assessing the 10-3 record

The Hawkeyes have played a tough schedule to this point, as they are tied for ninth in the country in quad one opponents faced with five. They are just 2-3 in those five games, which is a little disappointing given the fact that all three losses were winnable games.

Kansas State went to the final possession, Connecticut was a double-digit lead in the third quarter and the NC State loss was the Hawkeyes worst defensive performance of the year. The team definitely feels like one or multiple of those games got away and should have been wins.

In the win column is a big home win over #15 Iowa State, but that is the only big resume booster to this point. Wins over Drake, Oregon State, Belmont and Northern Iowa aren’t bad to have on the, but Lisa Bluder’s squad is going to need more when it comes to NCAA Tournament seeding. Lucky for them, the Big Ten has seven teams projected to make the tournament at this point and four teams ranked in the top 20. There will be plenty of chances to build a tournament resume in the coming months.

What are they doing well?

They have had their lapses when it comes to defensive rebounding, but overall, they have seen great improvement in that category. Last season, the Hawkeyes ranked 110th in defensive rebounding. At the midway point of the season, they are ranked 2nd in the country grabbing 78.4% of defensive rebound chances. That is an 8% increase from last season.

Despite still running the same high-powered offense, the Hawkeyes have improved in the turnover department. They ranked 89th with 14.4 turnovers per game last year and this year they sit at 21st, averaging 12.9 turnovers per game. The better news? The assist numbers are the exact same at 19.7 per game. The difference does not seem large, but after 463 turnovers last year in 32 games, the Hawkeyes are on track to have just 413 this year. A free possession or two to the opponent via turnover can change a game and right now Iowa is taking better care of the ball.

What needs to be improved

1. Consistency on Defense

Over the last couple of seasons, the Hawkeyes have been focused on improving their defensive numbers and have seen positive movement. In 2021 they were dead last out of 355 teams in points allowed with opponents averaging 80.3 points per game and were 235th in defensive rebounding. Fast forward to this season, the Hawkeyes are up to 234th in points allowed and 2nd in the country in defensive rebounding.

“We’ve seen some moments where it’s been pretty good and then we’ve had some lapses whether it’s been a stretch or maybe a game that hasn’t been great,” said Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen. “In the Big Ten season, lapses can cost you seedings, it can cost you titles, so I think they’re aware of it. We like their effort; we like their approach to it. I think we’re a work in progress.”

Several times this year they have shown the ability to play good defense and it has led to wins. Against Belmont, Oregon State, Iowa State and Minnesota, the Hawkeyes held them to an average of 60.5 points per game on 34.7% shooting from the floor. They outrebounded three of those teams and allowed just 34 second chance points (8.5 per gm) in four games.

On the flip side, the Hawkeyes have shown flashes of their old selves in a couple of games this season. Against Drake, Kansas State, NC State and UNI, they allowed an average of 84.5 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the floor. They got outrebounded in three of those four games.

“We focus a lot on defense. We spend a lot of time working on whatever we need to get better on,” said Hannah Stuelke. “We focus a lot of energy on it and we’re doing a good job.”

Consistency on defense is going to be a big point in the second half of the season. When the Hawkeyes are focused on playing good defense, they have the ability to be an Elite Eight or darkhorse Final Four team. When they struggle to keep teams off the glass and allow easy baskets, they look like the same team that dropped out in the first weekend last season.

2. Get Gabbie Marshall going offensively

Payton Sandfort and Gabbie Marshall have been going through nearly the exact same struggles this season. Shots just have not been falling. At one point, they actually had the exact same shooting numbers from behind the arc. Sandfort seems to have found his shot over the last couple of games, but Gabbie Marshall is still looking to have that breakout game that gets her back to normal.

Over 13 games, Marshall is shooting just 30.3% from the floor and 10/50 (20.0%) from behind the arc. How out of the norm is that? Very. Over her first three seasons, Gabbie shot 42.4% from the floor and 41.7% from behind the arc.

“It does need to come around because if you’re not able to consistently be a threat, then it kind of gets a little harder on everybody else, especially on Monika because you can kind of sag off (of Gabbie),” said Coach Jensen.

“I feel confident,” said Jensen on Marshall’s ability to get things turned around. “I think the break did her good…She’s had two really good practices. I’m really excited for her tomorrow night (against Purdue).”

If the Hawkeyes are going to get where they want to go this season, Gabbie Marshall is going to have to contribute on the offensive end of the floor. A year ago, the Hawkeyes were a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Gabbie averaged 1.4 3pt makes on 3.5 attempts per game. This year she is averaging just 0.77 3pt makes on 3.8 attempts per game.

3. Bench Production

Prior to the season, Lisa Bluder talked about how she felt this team was deeper than last year’s team and that it would be an advantage for them this year. So far through 13 games it doesn’t seem like that projected depth has quite panned out.

The biggest surprise has come in the post, where Addison O’Grady is averaging just 6.7 minutes per game, while Sharon Goodman and AJ Ediger have appeared in just five games apiece. Hannah Stuelke has gotten a chance at times, but she is still averaging just 10.8 minutes per game. There is an argument to give her more minutes, but fouls and turnovers have limited her at times.

“I would say that we really haven’t had this in my recent recollection with our post group. There’s kind of been that clear person that assumes the (backup five) role,” said Jensen. “Might be by committee…We have some length in Addison. (AJ) Ediger give you a little tenacity and a little swagger. She’s not going to back down and sometimes that’s what’s needed. Sharon gives you good size, she’s just a little bit slow because she didn’t get released (from knee recovery) until we really started practicing.”

Over the first 13 games, O’Grady is averaging just 2.1 ppg, while Goodman and Ediger have combined for 16 points in games that were already decided. It will be interesting to see if AJ Ediger has started to move up the ladder, as she was the first one off the bench against Dartmouth. However, it seems as though it would be more beneficial is one player was able to take over the backup role, but no one to this point has stepped up to do it.

At guard, Molly Davis is averaging 19.3 minutes per game, while Sydney Affolter has seen her role increase over the last few games. The two are combining for 29 minutes per game, which is very similar to the minutes that Tomi Taiwo and Kylie Feuerbach saw off the bench last season.

As a whole though, the bench has not given much of a boost when it comes to scoring. In the eight games decided by 15 points or less, the bench is averaging just ten points per game, including four games where the bench contributed eight points or less. That adds pressure to the starting five.

In the second half of the year, the Hawkeyes need to be able to rely on their bench players to be a threat to score while they are in the game. Is Hannah Stuelke able to settle in with some experience to be a more reliable option? Does someone stand out as a true backup at the five to help out? Does Molly Davis, Sydney Affolter or even freshman Taylor McCabe become a bigger scoring threat? Those questions will be answered one way or another over the next two months of the season.

The Hawkeyes will take on the Purdue Boilermakers Thursday night in their first game back from the holiday break. The game is at 8:00pm and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.