By Susan Harman

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The women’s basketball season started with fireworks Monday as South Carolina clobbered Notre Dame in Paris, while Colorado and Southern California completed impressive upsets over top-ranked and defending NCAA champion LSU and seventh-ranked Ohio State, respectively.

Iowa travels to Charlotte, N.C., to play fellow 2023 Final Four qualifier Virginia Tech in the Ally Tipoff at 7 p.m. Thursday in a continuation of Monday’s pyrotechnics. ESPN2 will televise the game.

“I think it’s one of the premier matchups of the non-conference season nationally,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “We’re going against one of the best point guards and centers in the country.”

This one should be fun.

“As a competitor, as a player, these are the games that you want to play in, that you live for,” Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall said. “And these are the games that fans want to watch and people want to come to.”

The two teams could have met in the national championship game last April, but Tech succumbed to a rally by LSU in the semis. Both had each other scouted, of course, and both coaches have said they thought they were looking at mirror images of their teams.

“I think they’re better than what they were last year because of what they’ve added,” Bluder said.

While Iowa lost key pieces in center Monika Czinano and forward McKenna Warnock and Tech lost guards Kayana Traylor and Taylor Soule, both teams still want to exploit the 3-point line and get the ball inside when the defense spreads out. Both teams will push the pace and challenge the scoreboard operator.

Tech’s offense runs through Elizabeth Kitley, the Hokies’ 6-6 center. She returns for her fifth year after earning All-America honors and being a Naismith finalist. Kitley is a nightmare to defend, not just because of her size and long reach, but because she has perfected an impossible-to-defend step-back fadeaway. Kitley averages a double-double and had another (27 points, 11 rebounds) Monday night against High Point.

“She draws a lot of attention, obviously,” Iowa’s Kate Martin said. “So we’re going to need to help our posts as much as possible. Whenever you have a big player in there like Kitley, rebounding is going to be a key. We’re going to need to be physical with her. We believe in our posts. I think it helps us that we have some versatility down there.”

Kitley is the fulcrum of the offense. Her very presence opens the floor for Tech’s 3-point shooters, led by preseason All American Georgia Amore.  Kitley is their Megan Gustafson/Monica Czinano and Amore is their Caitlin Clark, even down to the step-back threes and the quick shot release.

“I think she does have similarities to Caitlin, and it helps having to guard Caitlin every day in practice,” Marshall said. “I mean, you’re getting the best of the best every day.”

Tech coach Kenny Brooks called Clark “a generational player,” and “the best of the best.”

“We know we’re not going to need to shut her down,” he said. “She’s too talented, but I think we have some kids that can step up and can match anything that they put out there.”

Iowa counters Kitley with inexperienced post players Sharon Goodman, Addy O’Grady and Hannah Stuelke.

In addition to Amore, the Hokies added Michigan State transfer Matilda Ekh, a career 39 percent 3-point shooter, and have senior guard Cayla King who shoots .376 behind the arc. King is the Hokies’ answer to Marshall, a 3-point shooter who also defends the other team’s best guard.

Minnesota transfer Rose Michaeux, a 6-2 junior, helps inside and is trying to expand her game away from the basket to fit better in Tech’s system.

Bluder was enthusiastic about the game even before she knew the opponent. She knew it would be a high-caliber opponent, and it would test her team. With the end of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge this game provides some spice to the non-league schedule.

“It’s a national-attention game; it’s a game where it’ll help you, win or lose, come March because you scheduled it, that you played it,” Bluder said.

Brooks said he was hesitant at first to schedule a heavyweight opponent for the second game of the season, but “it’s a great opportunity for women’s basketball to showcase itself,” he said. “In essence it’s a win-win situation for us. We’re going to go down and play a very good opponent and No. 3-ranked team in the country.

“This is what it’s all about for us to be represented on this stage, our kids to be on par with the best in the country.”

The game will be played at Spectrum Arena, the home of the Charlotte Hornets and should provide end-to-end action from two top-10 teams. Will it be fun for players?

“Every game is fun for us,” Martin said. “We love it; we’re excited. We think every game is fun. A top-10 matchup? Are you kidding me? Yeah, that’s very fun.”

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NCAA OFFICIATING REVIEW—The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the refereeing in the national championship game between Iowa and LSU “did not meet expectations.”

The NCAA’s vice president for women’s basketball, Lynn Holzman, said the officials were graded on the accuracy of their calls, and that the overall accuracy number fell short.

“In the championship game itself, for example, we typically have a performance that, I think, is 91 percent historically,” Holzman said. “In that game the percentage of correct calls was below that, around 88 percent.”

The AP’s independent source, an official not involved in the game, said the percentage of accurate calls was less than 88 percent. That official was granted anonymity to complete the review.

The NCAA did not provide the AP with the review details. The 88 percent correct-call rate was on par with the rest of the 2023 tournament.