In the first month of the new women’s basketball season, a clear Top 3 has emerged. Defending champion South Carolina is the clear #1, having gone on the road and defeated #2 Stanford 76-71 in overtime. Stanford is the pretty clear #2 because the Cardinal really should have beaten South Carolina in that game (but had the benefit of being at home). And UConn is also pretty clearly the #3 team in the country right now. The Huskies have already defeated preseason Top 5 Texas and also beat preseason Top 10 North Carolina State by 22.
Frankly, I would be surprised if each of those teams don't end up reaching the Final Four next March unless injuries significantly alter their respective seasons. Each should win their conference fairly easily, and each already has significant additions to their resumes.
But there is an open question about who the fourth best team in the country is. Iowa started the season in that slot, but then lost to Kansas State. Texas actually started at #3, but is just 2-3 on the season (though the Longhorns have played every game so far without star guard Rori Harmon). Tennessee got some preseason Top 5 consideration, but is just 3-4 so far this year.
Currently the AP #4, 5, and 6 ranked teams are Ohio State, Iowa State, and Indiana. Each has started the season well, but Ohio State and Indiana’s best wins are over the same Tennessee team that has lost four times. Iowa State hasn’t faced a ranked opponent yet. I think it’s safe to say none of those three teams are clearly better than Iowa.
Iowa certainly hasn’t started the season like we hoped. The team defense might be slightly better overall, but will never put together a full game. The offense is still dangerously reliant on Clark and Czinano to perform like All-Americans every game.
But while there is no clear fourth best team in the country, the hope of a deep NCAA Tournament run is still alive. And for Iowa to be best positioned to do that, it needs to build its resume. A tough game against UConn on a neutral floor would go a long way towards doing just that.
Recap
UConn led Iowa 20-14 after the first quarter, and frankly Iowa was lucky to be down by only six points. Iowa made several mistakes early, including turning the ball over and missing free throws. In the back half of the quarter, Iowa’s shots also weren’t falling. Defensively, Iowa tried to take away the rim and gave UConn open jumpers instead. UConn made plenty of twos, but missed on three-point attempts.
Iowa started the second quarter on fire on both ends. Defensively, the Hawkeyes kept forcing UConn into jumpers that the Huskies missed. Offensively, Clark attacked the basket well, and some of Iowa’s shots started to fall. Iowa took a 27-22 lead on a Kate Martin three, and UConn called timeout.
UConn quickly cut Iowa’s lead down to one out of the break, but Iowa battled back, continuing to hit shots at a high rate. UConn called timeout with just under two minutes to play with Iowa leading 38-30. Iowa closed the half decently well, but UConn hit a late three-pointer, and Iowa led 41-35 at halftime. Clark’s three-point shot wasn’t falling, but she still had 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists at the break. Kate Martin was close to perfect with 11 points on 4/4 shooting.
In the early third quarter a quick UConn run cut Iowa’s lead down to two points, but again Iowa’s offense roared back. Martin nailed a few more threes, Warnock added another, and suddenly Iowa's lead had ballooned to 52-41. But just as it looked like Iowa was in control, UConn stormed back. Iowa’s defense finally started giving up shots at the basket again. And the offense got too reliant on threes. An Azzi Fudd three in transition tied the game at 52, and Iowa called timeout. The timeout didn't stop UConn's surge, though, and the Huskies led 61-57 after three quarters.
Iowa came out firing again in the fourth quarter, and briefly took a five-point lead. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes seemed to run out of gas for the rest of the fourth quarter -- their shots stopped falling and UConn basically couldn't miss. The Huskies shot 68% (!) from the floor in the second half, including 70% (!) from long range. Iowa ultimately lost 86-79.
Box Score
Clark led Iowa with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. She was dynamic off the dribble, especially in the first half. That said, she finished the game 2/11 from three. Part of that was shots not falling. Part of it was her taking too many difficult, off-balance shots. Clark is incredible, but if she can pass up a few of those bad threes and attack the basket instead, she’ll find another level.
Martin was phenomenal, scoring 20 points on 7/10 shooting and going 6/6 from three. She really is the X-Factor to Iowa’s offense. You can rely on Clark. On Czinano scoring when she gets the ball down low. On Warnock chipping in a quiet 10-15 points. But when Martin can be a scoring threat, Iowa is really hard to stop.
Warnock had 14 points and shot 3/11 from three. Her shots weren’t always falling, but the ones she did make were in big situations. Gabbie Marshall had 10 points. Surprisingly, Monika Czinano was the only starter not in double-figures, mostly because she only took seven shots. A box score for the game is here.
Thoughts
First, a great overall effort from Iowa. Martin had the best game of her career. Marshall was excellent on defense. Warnock made big shots. Clark was dynamic off the dribble. And Czinano held her own defensively and on the glass despite being matched against a very athletic 5.
Iowa proved it can compete with the best teams in college basketball today. Sure Kate Martin isn’t going to shoot that well again. But Clark didn’t shoot great, and UConn did a wonderful job of taking Czinano out of the game offensively. UConn was also on fire shooting for much of the second half.
Hopefully this game will be a building block for Iowa. This is proof positive of the results the Hawkeyes can get if they play hard defensively for a full 40 minutes. No, the defense will never be outstanding. But all it needs to do is enough to support Iowa’s offense.
Finally, I’m going to keep banging this drum: Iowa needs more roster rotation. The Hawks clearly ran out of gas late, mostly because the starters played 179 of 200 minutes. I understand why Coach Bluder didn’t rotate more. The starters all played well. But she has to find a way to get them some rest. If not, Iowa is going to keep running into trouble in the game’s final few minutes.
Next Up
The schedule doesn’t ease up for Iowa. The Hawkeyes return to action next on Thursday, December 1 at home against #13 North Carolina State. The game starts at 7:30 PM CT and will be televised on ESPN2.
The Wolfpack were easily defeated by UConn, but have gone 6-0 in their other games, two of which were against Power 5 opposition. This is a game Iowa really needs to get to boost its resume for the NCAA Tournament. NC State is good, but Iowa needs to defend its home court if it wants to be a serious contender come March.
