By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – In its last game this past Thursday, the Iowa women’s basketball team led Northern Iowa 40-11 at halftime and would go on to prevail 78-40 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The game was never competitive as Iowa bolted to an 18-5 lead and then continued to pour it on, improving to 3-1.

But now comes a whole different challenge on Sunday in Sioux City against 4-0 Vanderbilt, led by one of the nation’s most prolific scorers in 5-foot-8 junior Mikayla Blakes, who leads the Commodores with a 22.0 per-game scoring average, adding 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Blakes led NCAA Division I in scoring last season (27.0 ppg) and earned Southeast Conference Player of the Year honors.

It appears that defending Blakes will be the responsibility of 5-10 Oklahoma State transfer Amari Whiting, based on what first-year Iowa forward McKenna Woliczko said after the win over Northern Iowa.

Whiting, who just recently scored her 1,000th career point, has shown in her brief time as a Hawkeye that she can defend at a high level. She has eight steals through four games.

“We know that Vanderbilt is a very quick, fast-paced team,” Woliczko said. “They really like to pick up their ball pressure. So that’s something that we’ll have our managers doing in these next couple of practices.

“But we also know that Amari is a great defender, and I think that Amari is the one that will be on Mikayla Blakes. So I’m very confident in how Amari plays.”

Iowa won’t be playing in the friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, but it will have a home-away-from-homecourt advantage at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

This will be Iowa’s second game against a ranked opponent this season, the first being last Sunday’s 91-79 loss at then second-ranked Connecticut.

The Hawkeyes trailed by as many as 27 points in that game, but rallied in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable.

UConn star forward Sarah Strong, the reigning National Player of the Year, shredded Iowa for a career-high 39 points.

Blakes is also capable of scoring in that fashion as she scored a career-high 55 points against Auburn as a freshman in 2025.

Iowa is looking for a signature win against a top-10 opponent after struggling in these types of games last season.

The Hawkeyes finished 27-7 overall last season, and 15-3 in the Big Ten, but three of the losses against UConn and twice against UCLA were by at least 26 points. UConn defeated Iowa 90-64 last season, while UCLA crushed Iowa by scores of 88-65 in the regular season and 96-45 in the Big Ten Tournament.

UCLA would go on to win the national title last season.

Vanderbilt might not quite be at that level, but it’s reasonable to assume that Iowa will have to play well to prevail.

Both teams have a transfer from Georgia who is now playing a key role for their new tam.

Dani Carnegie, a 5-9 guard, leads Iowa in scoring with a 16.8 per-game average while fellow Georgia transfer Mia Woolfolk is averaging 19.5 points per contest while shooting 69.4 percent from the field for Vanderbilt.

Carnegie enters Sunday’s matchup with 1,009 career points, while Whiting has 1,003.

“We know we’re a good team,” Carnegie said. “We’re a top-ten team for a reason. and we’re just going to prove to people what we have to prove. We’re jut going to stick together and we know we’re going to win.”

Sophomore Aubrey Galvan is averaging 16.5 points point per game and she leads Vanderbilt with a team-high 8.3 assists per game.

Vanderbilt is coming off a 101-59 victory over Western Kentucky on Wednesday. Woolfolk scored a season-high 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting, while Galvan added 19 points and five three-pointers.

The Commodores finished 29-5 overall and 13-3 in SEC play in 2025-26, advancing to their first Sweet 16 in 17 seasons.

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Iowa projected starters

PG 11 Chit-Chat Wright 5-4 3rd Atlanta, Ga. 12.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 3.8 APG

SG 3 Dani Carnegie 5-9 3rd Mount Vernon, N.Y. 16.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG

SF 15 Amari Whiting 5-10 4th Burley, Idaho 5.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.0 APG

PF 20 McKenna Woliczko 6-2 1st San Bruno, Calif. 12.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.0 APG

C 5 Ava Heiden 6-4 3rd Sherwood, Ore. 13.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 APG

No. 8 Vanderbilt (4-0) vs. No. 10 Iowa (3-1)

When: Sunday, noon

Where: Sioux City, Tyson Events Center

TV: FS1

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series history: Sunday marks the fifth all-time meeting between Iowa and Vanderbilt. The Commodores lead the series, 4-0.

The programs last met Dec. 21, 1997, at the Honda Elite Four Classic in Lakeland, Fla., where Vanderbilt defeated Iowa, 60-54. » Iowa and Vanderbilt have met twice in the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores defeated the Hawkeyes, 61-56, in 1990 and 74-63 in the 1996 Sweet 16.

The teams also met Dec. 28, 1991, in Knoxville, Tenn., where Vanderbilt earned a 95-65 victory. Sunday’s contest is the first between the programs in nearly 29 years.