Iowa Women's Basketball vs. Michigan Preview

There are multiple reasons why the University of Iowa women’s basketball team needs a win on Thursday at home against the Michigan Wolverines (11-8 overall, 3-5 Big 10).

Thursday night’s game marks the halfway point of the conference season for the Hawkeyes (13-7, 3-5). It would be bad for the team’s psyche to enter the second half of the Big 10 schedule on a four-game losing streak, having already dropped five of the last six contests entering Thursday night.

Additionally, another conference loss would make Iowa’s chances of coming back to win the Big 10 regular-season title very slim. The Hawkeyes already face a four-game deficit for the conference’s top spot going into play on Thursday. Falling a potential five games back with only nine games left to play would be an almost insurmountable obstacle.

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Beyond Iowa’s already narrow Big 10 regular season title hopes, is a concern for seeding in the conference tournament at the end of the regular season. Right now, the Hawkeyes are part of a three-team logjam at 3-5, but trail the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the conference’s fifth seed by only two games.

Getting a sixth loss and swept by Michigan could lead to Iowa being one of the bottom seeds in the Big 10, which could mean an early exit in the conference tournament and put the hopes of continuing the NCAA tournament streak in jeopardy.

With all that on the line, the Hawkeyes will host the Wolverines in a re-match of a game played just three weeks ago in Ann Arbor. That 82-75 loss was the beginning of the current five-loss-in-six-game streak and was a heartbreaker for Iowa.

Ranked No. 23 in the coaches’ poll coming into the contest, the Hawkeyes held a 17-point lead in the third quarter. Turnovers, along with a shaky interior defense, allowed Michigan to come back and win. Since then, it’s been mostly downhill for Iowa.

One bright spot for the Hawkeyes from that contest was the combined play of freshman Megan Gustafson and sophomore Chase Coley in the post. The pair combined for 32 points and defended well enough to allow Iowa to build its lead.

This past Sunday against Purdue, both players were in the starting lineup together for the first time. Given their performance on the road against the Wolverines, it’s likely that this will be the case again on Thursday.

If Coley and Gustafson can produce as well offensively in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it will be a boost for the Hawkeyes. The real problem for Iowa hasn’t been the offense, however.

The Hawkeyes’ defensive issues have been a serious problem, and that may spell doom for Iowa again on Thursday. Michigan ranks third in the Big 10 in scoring offense (81.5 points per game) thanks to shooting almost 50 percent from the field so far this season. The Wolverines are also second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage and third in rebounding margin.

Michigan’s most productive scoring threat is sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty. Flaherty ranks third in the Big 10 with 21.7 ppg. The biggest danger to Iowa, however, is freshman center Hallie Thome. Thome is currently tied for 25th in the conference with 13.7 ppg, but is shooting nearly 65 percent from the field.

Given the Hawkeyes’ recent struggles to defend inside the lane, Thome’s athleticism and 6-foot-5 frame represents a match-up problem for Iowa.

Thome, Flaherty, defensive struggles, the losing streak, all that is what the Hawkeyes must overcome on Thursday if they are to begin to salvage the 2015-16 season. A fourth-consecutive Big 10 loss could start to define this season as a lost campaign.

Iowa Women’s Basketball Faces Must-Win Against Michigan

By Derek Helling | Jan 27, 2016

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