Hear from Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen after the Hawkeyes’ blowout win over Toledo
Hear from Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen after the Hawkeyes’ blowout win over Toledo
IOWA CITY — Even when the opponent is clearly inferior, there’s still plenty of value to be gained over the course of 40 minutes. Iowa women’s basketball obtained plenty Wednesday night in such a scenario.
The Hawkeyes‘ 94-57 win over Toledo inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena saw Iowa take advantage of the circumstances and use them to further the development of this new group. At some point, the gelling-together excuse will expire. But it hasn’t yet. And Iowa (3-0) can’t afford to let games like this one unfold without extensive progress.
Wednesday was potentially the last time Iowa will get a cruise-control home affair in the non-conference. The Hawkeyes play three more games in Iowa City before the Big Ten schedule begins in earnest — Nov. 24 vs. Washington State, Dec. 11 vs. No. 8 Iowa State, Dec. 20 vs. Northern Iowa — and all three could be dogfights. The chances to work things out in a comfortable setting are dwindling.
That’s why Iowa cruising Wednesday with several different rotations and combinations carried more weight than a usual November blowout. With that, here are three takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ victory.
Iowa’s added emphasis on defensive consistency is paying off already
When Jan Jensen gathered together with her coaching staff to begin the offseason, there was really only one area where Iowa could surpass the squads that played for consecutive national titles. Defensively, the Hawkeyes could fill some of the void left by such a pivotal graduating class.
The core values in this program will never change as long as a Lisa Bluder disciple isrunning things, but it’s clear the program stressing defensive improvement is resonating.
Couple Wednesday’s win with Sunday’s 71-52 victory over Virginia Tech, and these Hawkeyes have done something the last two teams did just once: hold foes under 60 points in consecutive games. Iowa did that one time last season — an 84-57 win over Indiana, followed by a 96-50 win over Wisconsin in late January — so it’s impressive the current squad matched that within Jensen’s first three games.
After yielding 12 3-pointers to Northern Illinois in the season opener, the Hawkeyes limited Virginia Tech and Toledo to a combined 22% from deep (13-for-57). As much as stats are important to illustrate Iowa’s defensive success, words that emphasize a renewed focus and buy-in are even more pivotal.
“Coach Sean (Sullivan) and coach Raina (Harmon) have impacted our defense so much this year,” junior Taylor McCabe said. “We’ve really started to emphasize that more. We know we have plenty of offensive threats, but in order to compete at the level we want to compete at, we’re just going to have to be able to guard people.”
Hear from Taylor McCabe, Hannah Stuelke after Iowa women’s basketball throttles Toledo
Hear from Taylor McCabe, Hannah Stuelke after Iowa women’s basketball throttles Toledo
Taylor McCabe’s “benching” and response provide more evidence of a flawless cultural transition
Once it became clear Sydney Affolter would soon require zero restrictions after offseason knee surgery, it was only a matter of time before she re-entered the starting lineup. McCabe and Kylie Feuerbach were always the top candidates to shift back to the bench.
That switch arrived Wednesday, with McCabe being the odd player out. How did she respond? By draining all four of Iowa’s treys en route to 14 points in 18 minutes.
McCabe knew this switch was probably coming, simply because of how valuable Affolter has been to this program in recent seasons. There was no bitterness — mild disappointment, at most — but McCabe wasn’t going to let it seep into her shooting.
Jensen is clearly riding the veterans she has in the early going until all pieces are up to speed. McCabe is doing all she can to consistently crack that main group. Her response to Wednesday’s “benching” indicates further that Iowa’s culture and cohesion continue to strengthen as the games go by.
“The beautiful thing is it’s hardly a conversation,” Jensen said. “I walked off the court with Taylor and walked up the tunnel with her to the locker room (after practice this week). I said, ‘Hey, just want you to know (Affolter is returning to the starting lineup moving forward).’ She was like, ‘Yeah, I know. I thought that might happen because Syd (has been so important to this program).’ Fist bump, we’re good.
“Sometimes you can really stew and worry as a coach that you have to massage a conversation. There’s always a little disappointment, and there should be. We all want to start. But that’s what I love about Taylor McCabe.”
The Hawkeyes’ 3-point shooting as a whole does need some positive steps as the schedule intensifies
Outside of McCabe, the Hawkeyes missed all six of their 3-pointers and have hit just eight of their last 32 downtown attempts. McCabe and Feuerbach are the only players with more than two treys through three games.
Iowa doesn’t need its 3-point attack to be as potent as recent seasons, nor should it use either of the last two years as a blueprint to replicate. But the Hawkeyes can’t wait around too much longer for their deep-threat offense to fully warm up.
Overall, the Hawkeyes are shooting 28% from deep (17-for-61). With high-flying Drake up on Sunday, followed by a Sioux Falls trek for Wednesday’s game against Kansas, Iowa can’t slow-play its 3-point potency much longer.
“We’re going to need it,” Jensen said. “When we track those threes, they’re just not great threes sometimes. If I can get them to take those out of it, the percentage will go a little higher because they’ll then take a better one. It’ll feel better, and they’ll have more confidence.”
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.
