Iowa Women's Basketball at Penn State Preview

The University of Iowa women’s basketball team might be playing its best basketball of the season at the right time. They have to continue doing that, however. The margin for error is very slim.

The Hawkeyes (17-11 overall, 7-9 Big 10) have won two games in a row, getting revenge on two teams that defeated them earlier this season. They will have another chance to do that on Wednesday at Penn State (10-17, 5-11).

Back on Jan. 20, Iowa welcomed the Nittany Lions into Carver-Hawkeye Arena as a welcome opportunity to bounce back from a narrow road loss at No. 20 Michigan State. On paper, the Hawkeyes were clearly the superior team.

What resulted was an ugly 82-69 loss for Iowa, in which the Hawkeyes got ran out of their own building by a Penn State team that they were supposed to dispose of easily. The Nittany Lions outrebounded Iowa 48-34 and had a 17-10 edge in points off turnovers in the game.

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Since then, it’s been an up-and-down season for the Hawkeyes, with the arrow recently pointing up. Penn State has continued to struggle, but they will enter this game with the confidence of already having beaten Iowa on the road by a comfortable margin.

There is another element that works in the Nittany Lions’ favor on Wednesday: pressure. It’s all on the Hawkeyes. It’s Iowa that needs the win to get back into position for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. It’s the Hawkeyes that need to win to prove their standing as Penn State’s better. The Nittany Lions are playing with nothing to lose on their home court.

Iowa has handled that pressure spectacularly over two must-win games already. At home against Purdue and Indiana, the Hawkeyes held their opponents to under 42 percent shooting from the field and averaged 48 percent from the field themselves. In the past 80 minutes of game time, Iowa has trailed for under 15 minutes.

In order to continue thriving under that pressure, the Hawkeyes must continue to execute on both ends of the court. In the first meeting of these teams, all five Nittany Lion starters scored in double figures, led by redshirt senior Brianna Banks and junior Lindsey Spann with 16 points each.

Freshman Teniya Page has been Penn State’s most dangerous threat all season, however, largely thanks to her 3-point shooting (over 42 percent for the season) which has her ranked fifth in the Big 10 in that category. She scored 14 against Iowa back on Jan. 20, just under her season average of 15.6 points per game. Banks and Spann both average in double figures as well on the season, and that offensive versatility could give the Hawkeyes trouble.

Iowa has shown that it can operate its offense with similar versatility, however. If it can do that, control the boards and execute its zone defense, it should be able to extend its winning streak. That would keep the dreams of a ninth consecutive NCAA berth alive.

No pressure, though. It’s just another game.

Iowa Women’s Basketball Looks To Stay Hot At Penn State

By Derek Helling | Feb 23, 2016

The University of Iowa women’s basketball team might be playing its best basketball of the season at the right time. They have to continue doing that, however. The margin for error is very slim.

More from Dear Old Gold