The six-seed Iowa Hawkeyes must bring their A-game to knock off the three-seed Oklahoma Sooners

The Iowa Hawkeyes Women's Basketball team took care of business in Round One of the NCAA Women's Tournament. The Hawkeyes dominated the Murray State Racers 92-57 in their first Tournament game in the post-Caitlin Clark era.

Iowa put together a complete game on both ends en route to a big win against Murray State. A balanced offensive attack guided Iowa to the win as 12 of 13 Iowa Hawkeye players scored a basket in the win.

The Hawkeyes will battle a tough Oklahoma Sooners team that has won 10 out of 11 games entering Monday's contest.

The Hawkeyes are preparing to battle the Sooners in a home game for Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the higher seed and is favored in the matchup.

Iowa Head Coach Jan Jensen and Oklahoma Head Coach Jennie Baranczyk are very familiar with each other. Baranczyk was a player for Iowa between 2000-2004 when Jensen was an associate coach for Lisa Bluder.

Jensen is also 8-1 in her coaching career against Baranczyk when Baranczyk was the Head Coach for Drake University from 2012-2021. Jensen and Baranczyk may have familiarity with each other, but Iowa must do these three things to win on Monday afternoon.

No Boomer Sooner

The Iowa Hawkeyes must slow down the high-powered Oklahoma offense if they want to win. The Sooners average 85.1 points per game and have a scoring margin of plus-16.4. They also shoot 46 percent from the floor.

The Sooners have three players who average double-digit points per game. Oklahoma is led by six-foot, four-inch junior center Raegan Beers, who averages 17.7 points per game. Payton Verhulst (14.9) and Sahara Williams (10.5) also average double-digit points per game.

The Sooners love to throw the ball inside to their two bigs, Verhulst and Beers, who are six-foot, one-inches, and six-foot, four inches, respectively.

The Hawkeyes ran into some early foul trouble against Murray State, and it cannot happen again. Hannah Stuelke, Ava Heiden, and Addison O'Grady must play defense without fouling. The trio must force Oklahoma to pass the ball out of the paint.

Oklahoma does not take or make a lot of three-point baskets per game. They only shoot 8.5 threes per game, on 32 percent shooting from three-point range.

Iowa must force Oklahoma outside the paint to succeed. They need to mix up their defense by adding 2-3 zone and playing two big lineups to combat their size. Iowa will win if they force Oklahoma into contested shots outside of the paint.

Iowa cannot allow Oklahoma to dominate the pain and go "boom" down low.

Sharing is caring

The Iowa Hawkeyes' offense operated like a well-oiled machine in their round-one matchup versus Murray State. Iowa had 92 points on 56 percent shooting from the floor and 47 percent from beyond the arc.

The glaring stat of the game was that Iowa had 28 assists on 41 made field goals. Lucy Olsen was the conductor of the offense, tallying 12 assists (a career-high). The Hawkeyes had nine players who registered at least one assist.

The Hawkeyes are 79-7 in their last 86 games when they have 20-plus assists in a game. Oklahoma is a better team overall than Murray State, but Iowa must get close to that amount to win the game.

Win the rebounding battle

Oklahoma has a big front line, and they rebound extremely well. The Sooners average 47.5 rebounds and out-rebound their opponents by 12.4 rebounds per game.

Iowa out-rebounded Murray State 44-32 in their last game, and that trend must continue in their second game. Oklahoma likes to bully their opponents inside and eat up all the rebounds. Iowa must use its size to combat Oklahoma's size.

Ava Heiden must be involved early for the Hawkeyes. She has excelled over her last five games and has been a dominant force down low. She needs to use her six-foot, four-inch frame to effect the Sooner's shots and keep them off the glass.

A two-big lineup must be used to counteract how much size Oklahoma has. Iowa will win the game if they can win the turnover battle or keep it respectable.

Prediction

Iowa has a much tougher test against Oklahoma than it did against Murray State. Murray State is a solid program, but Iowa ran them out of the gym. The bigs for Oklahoma scare me due to their paint presence and domination on the glass.

Iowa's bigs Stuelke, Heiden, and O'Grady must play solid defense without fouling for Iowa to have a chance. Heiden and Stuelke suffered from early fouls in their previous game, and it cannot happen again.

Iowa should take advantage of the Sooners' size by getting out quickly in transition and pulling their bigs outside the paint in their half-court offense. The Hawkeyes will need to move the ball quickly and efficiently to have a chance.

This will be a low-scoring, grinding game that is won or lost in the paint. Iowa will take advantage of their hot shooting and get up-and-down quickly against the Sooners.

The Hawkeyes upset the Sooners 68-62 in Norman, and move on to the next round.

How and when to watch

The six-seed Hawkeyes will battle the three-seed Sooners at 3:00 p.m. Central Time in Norman, Oklahoma. Tickets are still available, or the game will be televised on ESPN.