By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Already having lost what is considered by far the easiest part of its two-game road trip to Los Angeles, the Iowa women’s basketball team is now at risk of losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

To avoid it happening would take a win over second-ranked UCLA on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion where the visiting team rarely wins.

No. 8 Iowa (18-3, 9-1) will try to rebound from Thursday’s 81-69 loss to USC, which was played across town in Los Angeles.

The Trojans entered the game just 3-6 in conference play and unranked, but they outscored Iowa 55-27 in the first and third quarters, thanks to 13-0 and 21-2 scoring runs.

“Credit them,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of USC. “They were a hungry team, a very desperate team.

“We got on our heels in the first quarter, and when you let a team getting rolling, it’s tough sledding on the road.”

Iowa was trying to become just the second team in program history to start 10-0 in conference play, but USC put an end to that pursuit, and did so in convincing fashion.

And now here comes the mighty Bruins led by 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts, who leads her team in scoring (16.5), rebounding (8.3) and blocks (2.2).

UCLA (20-1, 10-0) has seven players that average from 7.4 to 16.5 points per game, so Betts also has plenty of support.

The Bruins now sit alone in first place with Iowa having suffered its first conference loss.

UCLA’s lone defeat came against Texas on Nov. 28 in Las Vegas by a score of 76-65.

Iowa, in addition to its loss to USC, has losses against Iowa State and Connecticut by scores of 74-69 and 90-64, respectively.

Iowa is also led in scoring by its starting center with sophomore Ava Heiden averaging 16.2 points per game. Her matchup with Lauren Betts could go a long way in determining Sunday’s outcome.

The Hawkeyes will play their second full game on Sunday without senior guard Taylor McCabe, who suffered a career-ending knee injury in the opening seconds of the 91-70 victory over Ohio State last Sunday in Iowa City.

Sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow and freshman guard Addie Deal, a former five-star recruit, are faced with trying to fill McCabe’s void, but the results against USC were mixed as Deal was held scoreless and she had three turnovers while playing 17 minutes.

Stremlow had more success against USC, finishing with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

Jensen will probably take it game-by-game with Stremlow and Deal to see who has the hot hand to play alongside starting point guard Chit-Chat Wright.

Stremlow and Deal have both shown flashes of brilliance, but they are both plagued by inconsistency.

Senior forward Hannah Stuelke only had one rebound in the loss to USC, which is hard to believe without reading the stat sheet.

Obviously, that has to change moving forward and the sooner the better.

Freshman forward Journey Houston came off the bench against USC to lead Iowa in scoring with 16 points. She also had eight rebounds, helping to make up for Stuelke’s rare off night on the boards.

This will be just the fourth meeting between the two teams with UCLA having won two of the first three games in the series.

The Bruins escaped from Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a 67-65 victory last February.

Iowa won’t have home-court advantage against UCLA on Sunday, but the Iowa players can perhaps take some inspiration from knowing that they nearly upset the Bruins last season.

Iowa probable starters
Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. Hometown Season Stat Summary

PG 11 Chit-Chat Wright 5-4 So. Atlanta, Ga. 12.8 ppg, 4.1 apg, 47% 3fg

SG 7 Addie Deal 6-0 Fr. Irvine, Ca. 6.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 46% fg

SG 4 Kylie Feuerbach 6-0 Gr. Sycamore, Ill. 5.7 ppg, 3.3 apg, 1.4 rpg

PF 45 Hannah Stuelke 6-2 Sr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa 14.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 54% fg

C 5 Ava Heiden 6-4 So. Sherwood, Ore. 16.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 63% fg

Iowa (18-3, 9-1) vs. UCLA (20-1, 10-0)

When: Sunday, 3 p.m.

Where: Los Angeles, Pauley Pavilion

TV: FOX

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: UCLA has a 2-1 advantage in the series.