Iowa women host Nebraska on Saturday
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Taylor McCabe is the only Nebraska native on Iowa’s roster as the Hawkeyes play host to the Huskers on Saturday at 1 p.m. But unlike the vast majority in the Big Red state her family really wasn’t in the Cornhusker fold.
“We weren’t Nebraska fans actually,” she said, grinning. “That’s very atypical, like, not common in Nebraska.”
Her family in Fremont, Neb., rooted for Notre Dame.
“But I still have a lot of connections there, and my grandparents went there as well,” she continued. “It’s always fun (playing Nebraska). And I still know plenty of people that play there, and obviously I know the coaching staff.”
McCabe’s immediate family is securely in the Hawkeye camp, but her extended family bleeds red and any mission to change their allegiances has so far failed.
“It’s not going well,” McCabe deadpanned. “Though they’ll buy my T-shirts, and I’m like, ‘You guys have to buy something else.’ So I gave them Iowa gear for Christmas, and we’ll see if they pull it out (for the game).”
McCabe is familiar with one Husker player in particular, junior center Alexis Markowski, who leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.5 rpg).
“We used to play against each other,” McCabe said.
Markowski grew up in Lincoln, and Fremont is only 50 miles away.
“We went back and forth a lot in high school and faced each other in the state championship my junior year when she was a senior. And they got us there.”
Needless to say the 5-foot-9 McCabe and the 6-3 Markowski didn’t guard each other in those games, but McCabe drove to the basket enough to mix it up with the Husker big.
“I’m actually very impressed with how she’s developed her outside shot this year, and it looks a lot better now. I really hope we don’t get matched up against each other,” McCabe said, laughing.
Just so you know, McCabe’s Fremont team did win the state championship the ensuing year when the Iowa sophomore was named Nebraska’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
*Nebraska. The Cornhuskers come in with a 13-6 record overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten. They have home victories over Maryland, Illinois and a blowout of Michigan. They also have a good win at Michigan State. They’ve lost road games at Penn State and Minnesota recently. The Huskers are one of the teams that Iowa will play twice.
“Nebraska has been a little up and down kind of depending on the day,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I’ve seen them play very well, and I’ve seen them struggle at times. So you’re not sure which one we’re going to get.”
Nebraska is currently tied for fourth in the Big Ten with Penn State, two games behind the three leaders, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State.
While their shooting has been inconsistent, what the Huskers do very well is rebound. Their rebounding margin (+10.5) leads the Big Ten, but Iowa is second (+9.9).
The Huskers also defend the 3-point shot, leading the conference by holding opponents to .273 shooting behind the arc. Iowa is third in that category (.288).
Markowski is joined in the paint by 6-2 freshman Natalie Potts. Potts, whom Bluder described as a true post, is contributing 11 points and six rebounds per game. Bluder pointed out that fifth-year transfer point guard Darian White is also a good rebounder.
“They are a great rebounding team,” Iowa junior Kylie Feuerbach said. “That’s something that we’re really going to focus on. All their players crash.”
“They’re starting to run kind of a double post with Natalie Potts, who could potentially win Big Ten freshman of the year,” McCabe said. “She’s having a really good year so far. So just really focus on it, focusing on defense down low and staying out of foul trouble.”
“(Markowski) is an excellent post player,” Bluder said. “She’s strong. She does have that shooting range that drags you out a little bit. Makes you defend her from farther out than you’d like with a center. She’s had so much good playing time; she’s been a starter since her freshman year.”
The Huskers’ best perimeter shooters include Jaz Shelley, an All-Big Ten first-team selection a year ago, sophomore Callin Hake and freshman Logan Nissley.
“(We have to) know the scout, know who to close out on like Jaz Shelley, for example,” Feuerbach said. “She’s a great shooter and just a great player overall. So locking her up and then just playing our solid defense on the rest of the players as well.”
Bluder said all the players are healthy and ready to get back on the court after their off week and having to live with the loss at Ohio State. She said the break was especially helpful for Hannah Stuelke, who has dealt with nagging injuries and who always gets pounded in the post.
“We had an off day after Ohio State, but once we got back to practice it seemed like our practice was the same as it usually is,” Feuerbach said. “Hard working. Definitely had some edge and we were just kind of ready to move on and let go of that game.”
Around the rim. Nebraska has two players with Iowa ties. Both junior Kendall Coley and senior Annika Stewart had sisters who played at Iowa. Chase Coley played from 2015-18, and Hannah Stewart from 2016-19.
Iowa All American Caitlin Clark is a mere 43 points from eclipsing former Missouri State star Jackie Stiles for third place on the NCAA career scoring list.
Saturday’s game can be seen on the Big Ten Network at 1 p.m.