Preview: No. 5 Iowa WBB vs. Rutgers

WHO: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-15 overall, 4-9 Big Ten)
WHEN: Sunday, February 12th at 2 PM CT
WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
TV: FS1
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network | Sirus/XM 109 or 196
MOBILE: www.foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: www.foxsports.com/live

C. Vivian Stringer is one of the best coaches in women college basketball history, but it’s fair to say her time at Rutgers didn’t end the way she would have liked. Stringer took a leave of absence from the team before the 2021-2022 season, and Rutgers fell off significantly, going just 11-20 overall and 3-14 in conference.

Stringer then retired after the season, and Rutgers replaced her with former Penn State coach Conquese Washington. So far, the transition hasn’t gone smoothly. Rutgers had just eight players on its roster to start the year. Not eight health players. Eight players total. I’ve never seen a roster that small before. Unsurprisingly, Rutgers has struggled this year too, and is just 10-15 on the year and 4-9 in conference play.

In a small bit of good news, all eight of those players managed to stay healthy. 7 of 8 have played in all 25 games so far, and the eighth player has played in 24 of 25.

Rutgers teams of the recent past have been known for their defense. This team… isn’t. The Scarlet Knights rank a horrid 336th in opponent’s points per 100 possessions. Rutgers doesn’t force many turnovers, and doesn’t rebound the ball well either.

And the offense isn’t much better. The Scarlet Knights rank 219th in points per 100 possessions, and rank 335th in turnover rate, turning it over on around 20% of their possessions. Rutgers does shoot decently well from three and is a better offensive rebounding team than Iowa, but that’s really all they do well.

Frankly, given how poor Rutgers’ metrics are, it's a bit surprising that they're 4-9 in conference games. That’s the same record as Penn State and Michigan State -- and both those teams seem notably better. Rutgers also had an impressive win over Nebraska back in early January.

Rutgers’ leading scorer this year is freshman Kaylene Smikle. Smikle—a 6’0" guard—averages 17.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 1.8 spg. She shoots 36.7% from three, but just 39.5% from two. She also averages almost twice as many turnovers (4.1) as assists per game (2.1). Smikle’s strong freshman season should give Rutgers fans some hope for the future, but in the transfer portal era they might also be concerned that a bigger team could come calling.

Rutgers’ second leading scorer is senior Awa Sidibe. She averages 9.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg, but also averages more turnovers per game (4.1) than assists (3.4). She also shoots just 11.1% from three, though she averages fewer than one attempt per game.

No hangover. The Indiana game was huge in magnitude and the Hawkeyes probably feel like they let one get away given how close it was and that most of the team didn’t play particularly well. Iowa has to get over that loss and take care of business against Rutgers.