By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the second straight game, the Iowa women’s basketball team will play on the road against a Big Ten opponent that is winless in conference play.

But if Iowa head coach Jan Jensen thought that might cause her players to take Indiana lightly on Sunday, all she would have to do is remind them about what almost happened in their last game when Iowa struggled to defeat lowly Northwestern 67-58 this past Monday in Evanston, Illinois.

Sophomore center Ava Heiden only played 18 minute against Northwestern due to foul problems, but she still scored 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field.

“Ava was pretty much on the whole game,” Jensen said. “But it was really weird when that foul trouble happened with her. We just got off the rails and we never found a way to get back on.”

Jensen also credited Northwestern veteran head coach Joe McKeown for making some unexpected changes on defense that caused problems for No. 14 Iowa.

“We just had an off day and that’s on me,” Jensen said. “I thought we had us prepared.

“But I think it’s just a lot of times when you have a kid that’s not feeling well, a couple are in foul trouble, someone’s not hitting; it’s just the perfect storm. So we’re going to work on a lot of things to try and clean up the offense. We were a little sloppy in that.”

Indiana, meanwhile, also has plenty to work on with records of 0-5 in conference play and 11-6 overall.

Iowa and Indiana have split the last 10 games in the series, but the Hoosiers have since fallen on tough times, though they are 8-2 at home this season.

The Hoosiers will have their hands full in trying to contain the 6-foot-4 Heiden, who has scored at least 20 points in four games this season.

Iowa has 10 players that average from 4.6 points to 16.2 points per game, led by Heiden.

However, that also includes sophomore forward Emely Rodriguez (7.2), but she has only played in six games this season and isn’t expected to play against the Hoosiers on Sunday.

Following the Indiana game, Iowa will return home to face Oregon next Thursday and then Michigan State on Sunday.

Iowa (13-2, 4-0) vs. Indiana (11-6, 0-5)

When: Sunday, 4 p.m.

Where: Bloomington, Indiana

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Iowa leads the all-time series, 56-24. The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers have split the last 10 meetings. (5-5)