Hawkeyes seek to break chain, start streak

IOWA CITY — Losing to your enemies, that's rough.

So is losing to your friends, according to Chase Coley.

'I hate losing to them,' Coley said Friday, as the Iowa Hawkeyes prepared for Saturday's Big Ten women's basketball game against Minnesota.

Now a junior, Coley grew up 10 minutes away from the Minnesota campus. She rattled off a list of names on the Gophers' roster. This one was a high-school rival. That one was an AAU teammate.

Coley grew up a Gophers fan, and could have taken the comfortable route and stayed home, but didn't.

'I chose to leave (Minnesota) for a reason, because I think Iowa has the better team,' she said.

Tipoff is 2 p.m. Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Ten regular-season games remain for the Hawkeyes (12-7, 3-3), who are part of a five-team, fifth-place Big Ten logjam.

You could call their Big Ten slate a 'roller-coaster,' but 'see-saw' would be more accurate. The first six conference games have gone lose-win-lose-win-lose-win.

The latest win was a road triumph against Rutgers on Tuesday.

'The last three games, we have made progress,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'We want to keep this going.'

A last-second loss to the Gophers last season still stings.

'Looking back, that might have been the loss that kept us out of the (NCAA) tournament,' Bluder said. 'That's one that we can put our finger on, and we reminded the team of that today.'

The Hawkeyes stand above Minnesota (11-8, 2-5) on the Big Ten ladder, but the Gophers boast the superior RPI (40, compared to Iowa's 64).

'They have played a tough schedule, both inside and outside the conference,' Bluder said. 'So this would be a big win for us, because it would be two in a row, and because it would be a good RPI win.'

So, with 10 games left (plus the Big Ten tournament), what is necessary for the Hawkeyes to return to the NCAA after last year's absence? Six wins would put them in the discussion. Seven would almost surely be enough.

'I don't know, I let the coaches worry about that,' freshman Kathleen Doyle said. 'We're not focusing on the rest of the season, we're focusing on one game.'

Bluder carried the same theme.

'If you look at all 10, it can be (intimidating) at times,' she said. 'We're taking baby steps, right?'

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