Third-ranked Iowa women vs. Indiana may or may not happen Saturday night
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa’s biggest game of the year may or may not be Saturday night in prime time against fellow Big Ten co-leader Indiana. Mother Nature is in charge of the proceedings, and she’s hiding her hole card.
“Hopefully we have a game (Saturday),” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said Friday as the state’s blizzard amped up. “Hopefully they can get here, and we can have some people show up to make it a good atmosphere.”
According to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana’s team tried to be proactive and fly into Iowa on Thursday, but their charter service did not have a plane available. The Hoosiers abandoned plans to fly in Friday afternoon given the on-going blizzard and will try to travel Saturday morning for the 7 p.m. game.
With speculation about the game’s fate swirling around on social media, Bluder said that her team will prepare as if the game will be played.
“That’s how we have to proceed,” she said. “We’ll have our normal practice (Friday) just as if we were preparing for the game (Saturday).”
The game itself is one of the season’s most highly anticipated matchups. It pairs last year’s regular-season champ against the Big Ten tournament champ. Both teams are veteran-laden with players who split their two games a year ago. Both teams have lost only once, and both lost to teams now ranked in the top 12.
“Indiana’s playing some great basketball right now,” Iowa’s Caitlin Clark told Peacock streaming service. “They’re shooting the ball well, and coming to our place I know our crowd is going to be really amped up for that one as they always are. So, it’s going to be a fun matchup.”
Indiana (14-1, 5-0) is under-ranked at 14th, having paid a big price for an early season drubbing at Stanford. Iowa (16-1, 5-0) is ranked third but is seventh in the NCAA NET rankings.
“It’s an incredibly difficult challenge to play Indiana,” Bluder said.
The challenge starts with All American center Mackenzie Holmes, a fifth-year senior who leads IU in scoring (19.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.3). Holmes demands defensive attention and is often double teamed.
“This is probably their (Iowa’s posts) biggest challenge of the year,” Bluder said.
Holmes isn’t as big as Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee or Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley, but she’s more mobile, runs the floor and has better skills around the basket. She’s also a veteran of these kinds of games.
As if she didn’t create enough problems, the Hoosiers have multiple 3-point shooters who can take advantage if the defense focuses too much on the interior.
“It’s pick your poison,” Bluder said. “Three is greater than two, so I guess we’re going to focus on that, but it’s just really difficult when you have such a good post and such good 3-point shooters.”
Indiana averages 39 percent shooting behind the arc, second in the Big Ten. The culprits are many: Sara Scalia (.446), Yarden Garzon (.440), Chloe Moore-McNeil (.405) and Sydney Parrish (.375). That’s a lot of firepower. Bluder called them a “quadruple-headed monster.”
Parrish made 6-of-7 threes in IU’s win over Michigan in which they blitzed the Wolverines right out of the gate by making the first 15 shots they took.
“You have to make sure that you’re always locating them knowing where they are, trying to keep the ball out of their hands if you can, closing out with high hands and just being aware of where they are at all times,” Bluder said. “How you play screens and getting around them as quickly as you can. Being disciplined. That sounds like a really easy thing but being disciplined to not help off of those players.”
This is sort of Minnesota on steroids. Iowa was able to control the Gophers’ post and Gabbie Marshall was outstanding defending sharpshooter Mara Braun. Braun finished with 15 points but got only six while Marshall was guarding her, two of which were free throws.
But Indiana has a lot more firepower in a lot more places, and Holmes is a lot more to handle in the paint. What Iowa does have going for it in addition to the home court is its offensive performance at Purdue in the last game.
“I sure feel good about the way we played at Purdue and how many people got involved in the offense,” Bluder said. “Five people in double figures is amazing. So, I do feel like we’re playing some of our best basketball right now, and that’s really important when you’re playing against a team like Indiana, who’s so good offensively as well.”
Indiana has started the same five all season long. Moore-McNeil has taken over the point-guard position, and she’s the team’s best perimeter defender. She is more of a scoring threat this season, not just with dribble penetration, but with her outside shooting.
No Iowa fan needs a reminder of the dramatic conclusion of last season’s Indiana-Iowa game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“That game was crazy,” Bluder said. “I just remember we had a play set up for (Clark), and it wasn’t even a great pass, and Kate Martin is a really good inbounder, but (Clark) had to really reach for it. So we were very fortunate that we were able to get that shot off and that we had somebody like Caitlin Clark taking it.”
Clark’s 25-foot, off-balance, one-legged 3-pointer went in, and Iowa had an 86-85 victory that lit the fuse to a run that ended in the National Championship game.
The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fox.