Iowa women's basketball: 3 things to watch as Hawkeyes host Lauren Betts and No. 3 UCLA

Iowa women’s basketball: 3 things to watch as Hawkeyes host Lauren Betts and No. 3 UCLA

Posted by author February 21, 2025 Basketball

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IOWA CITY — Unless something absurd happens down the stretch, likely just two more Iowa women’s basketball parties inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena remain this season. The one Sunday afternoon has a chance to get wild.

In walks No. 3 UCLA and its nearly unblemished record (25-1, 13-1 Big Ten), set to battle the Hawkeyes (18-8, 8-7 Big Ten) and another raucous sellout crowd at 1 p.m. Iowa has shown it can take advantage of these premier opportunities with favorable noise pouring in behind it. Whether Jan Jensen’s squad can deliver an on-court effort that matches the moment Sunday remains to be seen.

With that, here are three things to watch ahead of Sunday’s showdown on Peacock.

Does Iowa’s back-to-back days of rest make a difference on Sunday?

There’s no clear way to quantify how valuable extra rest is this time of year, both on the legs and on the mind. The hope the Hawkeyes have taken advantage of a rare late-February open week to increase the chance Iowa’s best product takes the floor more often than not the rest of the way.

That’s why Jensen gave her team Wednesday and Thursday off following Monday’s overtime loss at Ohio State, making Tuesday, Friday and Saturday practice days ahead of facing UCLA. A seemingly subtle scheduling change could have carry significant impact on Sunday.

“It was great,” junior Hannah Stuelke said. “Especially our bodies so late in the season, we’re exhausted just like everybody else is. Having two days off -back-to-back is life-changing. Very timely.”

Does a dose of familiarity aid Iowa in any way with Sunday’s hefty interior challenge?

The Addi O’Grady-Lauren Betts reunion would have happened last season in the Elite Eight had UCLA pulled off a Sweet 16 win over LSU. The fact it’s now scheduled for Sunday adds another layer to a pivotal post showdown.

The former prep teammates from Grandview High School — just outside Denver in Aurora, Colorado — are now conference foes for this one season. The 6-foot-4 senior O’Grady is one year ahead of the 6-foot-7 Betts, making this the first time they’ll share the court together since those dominant days way back when.

“I don’t think I’ve really ever played against Lauren other than in practice,” O’Grady said. “So it’ll be really fun to get to compete against her at such a high level.”

O’Grady won a state title as a freshman in 2018. Betts did the same as a senior in 2022. This forceful tandem nearly added another together in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the state tournament just ahead of the championship game.

“For me not to be the tallest girl on my high school basketball team is kind of crazy — not to be the tallest girl in my high school even,” O’Grady said. “Even us outside of basketball just walking around in the hallways, I think it was really a good confidence boost for both of us not to feel like we both stood out too much because we both had each other.

“And then playing basketball together was just crazy. Who has two 6-4+ people on their team? (Sunday) might bring me back to high school days, now that I’m a senior especially. It’ll be such a weird and really fun reunion.”

Much has happened since then. Betts, as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting prospect, went to Stanford out of high school. She’s since transferred to UCLA, where she’s ascended into one of the nation’s top players while trying to lead the Bruins to their first Final Four. O’Grady, meanwhile, has played in two national championship games and is having a career-best season in her final campaign.

Betts missed last Sunday’s win over Michigan State with a right foot injury, but she returned to action Wednesday with 22 points, seven rebounds and six blocks in a 70-55 win over Illinois. The Hawkeyes will need a full-fledged effort from O’Grady, Stuelke and potentially Ava Heiden to keep Betts from a similar stat line.

The intensity down low will set Sunday’s tone.

Can Iowa avoid needing so much effort to stop Lauren Betts that it leaves holes elsewhere?

Betts is the obvious headliner and top priority. But UCLA’s next wave of weapons features plenty of potency capable of dictating Sunday’s result.

“Cori Close is a really great coach,” Jensen said. “She got some different pieces. and she’s really worked to have a lot of different motion-type sets with different actions. Three to four different packages, if you will.

“Obviously when you have someone 6-foot-7, that’s usually one of the top options. They’ve got one of the best guards in Kiki Rice. They’ve got a great shooter in (Londynn) Jones. Couple wing players. We recruited the heck out of Angela (Dugalic) out of the Chicagoland. She went to Oregon first. And then some other nice pieces. Cori’s a really good coach and just has a lot of actions that you can get lost in before they throw into their center who’s really hard to guard. They got every piece.”

Iowa got a quick peek at most of this same UCLA core last season while prepping for both the Bruins and LSU as potential Elite Eight opponents. The scouting report that has come to fruition this season reveals plenty of concerns Iowa must combat.

Iowa vs. UCLA women’s basketball prediction

The Hawkeyes race out to a strong start behind an energetic Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but UCLA offers too much to overcome in the second half. UCLA 71, Iowa 61.

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.