By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team will try to climb back in the win column and complete a sweep of its three instate opponents when it faces Northern Iowa on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa hasn’t played since last Sunday’s 68-66 loss at Michigan State in the Big Ten opener, a game in which Iowa led by nine points in the fourth quarter.

The Hawkeyes are 9-2 overall under first-year head coach Jan Jensen, with two of the wins over Drake on the road and Iowa State at home by scores of 86-73 and 75-69, respectively.

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen was brought in to play a significant role, and she has certainly met that challenge so far as Iowa’s leading scorer with an 18.3 per-game average. She also leads the team with 44 assists.

However, Olsen struggled against Michigan State, making just 4-of-17 field-goal attempts.

Iowa also committed 23 turnovers against the Spartans and had 30 in the 78-68 loss to Tennessee.

UNI, which owns active streaks of 16 consecutive seasons at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference play and 15 years in a row with at least a top-half finish in the league standings, is le in scoring by senior guard Maya McDermott, who averages 21.9 points per game. The Johnston native scored 38 points in a win over Iowa State earlier this season.

Against South Dakota State, UNI continued an active program-record 542-game three-pointer streak that started December 6, 2008, versus Green Bay (6-of-19) following an 0-of-14 outing from behind the three-point arc December 3, 2008, against Northern Illinois. The Panthers knocked down one three against SDSU.

Northern Iowa is 1-2 against AP Top 25 or teams that received votes this season.

Northern Iowa (5-5) vs. Iowa (9-2)

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: BTN+

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 26-3. Iowa has won four straight against the Panthers.

Editor’s note: hawkeyesports.com contributed to this report.