3 things to watch as Iowa women's basketball hosts Washington State

3 things to watch as Iowa women’s basketball hosts Washington State

Posted by Admin November 23, 2024 Basketball

IOWA CITY — Back home after another successful basketball adventure, Jan Jensen’s Iowa women’s basketball team gets its first weekend affair inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena of the season.

The Hawkeyes (5-0) host Washington State (2-2) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Iowa’s final home game for 2 1/2 weeks. Upcoming trips to Mexico and Brooklyn won’t have the Hawkeyes home next until the highly-anticipated Cy-Hawk showdown on Dec. 11.

Iowa has reached this point productively, blending a reinvigorated defensive approach with the Hawkeyes’ traditionally offensive mindset to move a new team forward. Iowa hopes another step in the right direction awaits Sunday afternoon.

Here are three things to watch for this 3 p.m. game.

What does the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd have in store for Iowa’s first of seven Sunday home games?

Iowa’s first two home games on weeknights against inferior MAC foes have still generated two nice crowds, with some gaps in the student section but roughly 80-85% full everywhere else. That’s a pretty good turnstile number to match the season sellout announced in the preseason.

Sunday, though, offers all the elements for an even larger crowd. After two weekends away from home, Iowa gets Washington State in a convenient time slot for Sunday activities while still maintaining the weekend appeal.

Big crowds are nothing new for this program, which played in front of sellouts throughout the Caitlin Clark years and had nice road turnouts this month in Des Moines and Sioux Falls. Expect Carver-Hawkeye Arena to be the fullest it has been this season against Washington State.

How does Iowa look against the Cougars’ international-heavy lineup?

Scanning the Washington State roster is basically a trip around the world. The Cougars currently have players from France, Spain, Taiwan, Australia, Estonia, Niger, Kosovo, Italy and Canada.

Atop the stat sheet are Canadian Tara Wallack and Italian Eleonora Villa, who both average double figures while rarely coming off the court. Six of the 10 foreign players are freshmen as well, making Iowa’s scout a little tricky as it readies for the Cougars.

It’s been a mixed bag for Washington State so far, with wins over Eastern Washington and Idaho to go with losses at Stanford and at Texas Tech. Iowa will try to prevent this international group from catching fire in Iowa City.

“They just do a bunch of actions that are a little bit more sophisticated,” Jensen said. “You’ve got to be ready to handle them. Ones through fours, they’re just a little bit different. Not exactly like Drake, but they can do some similar actions where your fours aren’t handling that on a daily basis.”

Hear from Iowa basketball’s Stremlow, Heiden ahead of Washington game

Hear from Iowa women’s basketball freshmen Taylor Stremlow, Ava Heiden before Hawkeyes face Washington State

Can Iowa’s three freshmen seeing consistent minutes collectively take another step forward?

Teagan Mallegni, Ava Heiden and Taylor Stremlow have all had bright spots with some freshmen moments throughout Iowa’s first five games. Sunday offers a chance for another productive step forward against an opponent that could quickly prove overmatched.

Stremlow and Mallegni are averaging right at 15 minutes per game, offering up plenty of floor time to make a productive impact. Mallegni’s 3-point potency continues to gain consistency, while Stremlow’s tenacity has shown through early on. Heiden hasn’t stuck quite as firmly as the other two so far, but it’s clear this freshman post is coming whenever up to speed.

A freshman reinforcement should be coming soon as well. Jensen said backup point guard Aaliyah Guyton is expected to return at some point next week when Iowa heads to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. When Iowa has its full freshmen arsenal to work with, the Hawkeyes will become a better team for it.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.