The week ahead in Iowa women's hoops
The Hawkeyes will face a pair of Big Ten teams that are in the lower half of the conference standings, allowing the team to potentially extend their three-game winning streak.
Unfortunately, Covid has postponed what would have been a major home contest against #6 Indiana on Sunday, but Head Coach Lisa Bluder said she is working to try to find a potential team to fill that spot.
“I am trying really hard to try to find a game for Saturday or Sunday…I’m hoping we can do something like that, but again everybody has to agree on it and sometimes getting coaches to agree on things is not easy.”
Previewing the Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-9) (2-4) (Thursday, January 20th)
The Golden Gophers come in to this matchup having faced eight teams that are projected in the current NCAA Tournament field, with a record of 1-7. However, three losses were by eight points or less and they trailed Michigan by just four points after three quarters before losing by 12.
There are a few things that stand out with this Minnesota squad, and it starts with their 3pt shooting. The Gophers are shooting 37.9% from behind the arc, which is good enough for 11th best in the nation and are led by junior G Sara Scalia, who leads the team with 54 3pt makes on the season.
(Sara) Scalia is an unbelievable 3pt shooter,” said Lisa Bluder. “They do such a good job with their ball screens, and they create those spot up 3pt shots off of that… When you are a 3pt shooting team like they are, you are never out of games.”
The other point that pops off the page for Minnesota is that 10 players average 10 minutes per game, and they have several players that average in double figures in scoring.
“They have four people in double figures, so they are very balanced and anytime you have that kind balance, teams are harder to guard,” said Bluder.
They are led by the aforementioned G Sara Scalia, who averages 15.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while G Jasmine Powell averages 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.
“Jasmine Powell is an outstanding point guard (and has) been around the league for a long time. I feel like she’s older than a junior,” said Bluder. “(She is) so, explosive off the dribble.”
North Carolina A&T transfer G Deja Winters has fit in nicely with the Gophers and has been a starter since mid-November. Winters averages 11.5 points per game and she leads the team with a 43.8% from behind the 3pt line. Wrapping up the quartet of scorers is F Kadi Sissoko, who averages 11.1 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game. Sissoko and F Allana Micheaux are the top two threats to grab offensive rebounds averaging close to 4.5 per game.
While the Gophers have the weapons to put up points to keep games close, their defense has struggled in a couple of categories that may allow the Hawkeyes to do what they do best and that’s get out and score the basketball.
Minnesota ranks 255th in FG% allowed, allowing opponents to convert 41.4% of their shots. On top of that, they are near the bottom in the country forcing turnovers, as their opponents give it up just 13.9 times per game. That ranks 308th out of 348 teams in D1 basketball.
If the Hawkeyes can defend the Gophers 3pt shooting well enough to keep them from gaining confidence early in the game, the Minnesota defense will give Iowa plenty of opportunities to get a comfortable win on the road at Williams Arena.
Previewing the Penn State Nittany Lions (8-7) (2-3) (Tuesday, January 25th)
If Lisa Bluder and Deputy AD Barbara Burke cannot find an opponent for the weekend, then the Hawkeyes next game after Minnesota will be a road trip to face Penn State on Tuesday. The game was initially supposed to be played on January 30th, but Covid issues within the PSU program caused a postponement. It will mark the first time all season that Iowa will be on the road for back-to-back contests.
The Nittany Lions are mostly led by G Makenna Marisa and F Ali Brigham. The two combine for nearly 47% of the teams scoring average and will be the two key players for Iowa to guard against in the matchup.
Makenna Marisa averages 21.4 points and 4.2 assists per game, while her 32 3pt makes leads by 15 more than any other player on the roster. Ali Brigham averages 12.2 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 per game. She is very efficient in the paint, with a FG% of nearly 58%.
G Leilani Kapinus has come on strong, as of late, averaging 16.8 points per game over their last four contests, including 20 points against Youngstown State on December 12th. She will be one to watch for another big performance if the Hawkeyes can slow down Marisa or Brigham.
On defense, much like Minnesota, Penn State is not great at keeping opponents from converting baskets, as they rank 264th in the country in FG% allowed, which is nine spots lower than the Gophers. They do excel at forcing turnovers, ranking in the top 130, forcing 17.3 turnovers per game.
The Nittany Lions also rank very low in free throw percentage (226th) and rebounds (288th), so the Hawkeyes may be able to get away with some aggressive defense given the fact that Penn State can’t shoot it from the line very well.
This should be a game that Lisa Bluder’s squad will be able to roll to a comfortable victory in, as Penn State is 0-5 against Power 5 teams projected in the NCAA Tournament field with an average margin of defeat of 25.2 ppg.