Are we seeing the start of another shooting renaissance from Gabbie Marshall?

IOWA CITY — History is on Gabbie Marshall’s side.

And that’s one reason — but not the only reason — that nobody in the Iowa women’s basketball camp panicked despite a prolonged early-season shooting slump.

“No doubt about it,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said Tuesday. “You look at her history ... last year helped both her and us, getting through this.”

Caitlin Clark’s triple-double — the 14th of her career — was the headline news out of Iowa’s rout of Rutgers on Friday. But it was Marshall’s breakout that was the most welcome.

The fifth-year senior connected on 4 of 7 attempts from long range, scoring 12 points.

She had scored 20 points in the previous seven games.

“Gabbie needed that,” Bluder said. “You can say it doesn’t bother you. She contributes to the team in so many ways. We understand her role defensively.

“But, come on, seeing the ball go through the hoop, that’s fun.”

Marshall’s early-season long-range (mis)fortunes mirrored a similar story from last year, when she shot 23.8 percent through the first 22 games, 53.4 percent through the final 16.

This season, Marshall connected on 16 of 63 3-point attempts (25.4 percent) through the first 15 games.

She’ll try to stack another 3-point gem onto Friday’s performance on Wednesday, when the third-ranked Hawkeyes (15-1 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) play at Purdue (9-5, 2-1).

Tipoff is 7 p.m. (CT) at Mackey Arena in a game streamed by Peacock.

Iowa will pursue its 13th consecutive win, which would match the longest of the Bluder era.

The 2024-05 team won 13 in a row to start the season. Bluder was asked what she remembered about that streak 19 years ago.

“Absolutely nothing,” she said. “I don’t remember a thing about it. I don’t remember who was on that team. You’re testing me, man.”

Iowa’s all-time longest win streak is 22, established in 1988.

The Hawkeyes flew into western Indiana on Monday, before the snowflakes started falling.

“We contacted the plane company, and they didn’t think they would be able to get out (Tuesday),” Bluder said. “That made our decision easier. We weren’t in school yet, so that helped as well.”

In addition to Wednesday morning’s scheduled shoot-around, the Hawkeyes went through a full practice Tuesday.

“That won’t hurt,” Bluder said. “I don’t know if it’s the surroundings, but Purdue is a tough place to play. They have one of the best (pep) bands in the Big Ten, and they’re very vocal.”

The Boilermakers are 8-0 at Mackey, 1-5 elsewhere.

“It’s going to be our hardest road test since the Virginia Tech game,” Bluder said.

Iowa’s longest women’s basketball winning streaks

22 — Nov. 28, 1987-Feb. 21, 1988. Hawkeyes started 22-0 before suffering a 58-54 loss at Ohio State on Feb. 26. That was their only setback that season until an Elite Eight defeat at Long Beach State, which avenged a regular-season loss to the Hawkeyes.

17 — Jan. 4-Feb. 28, 1993. Iowa’s first Final Four team lost to Colorado in its seventh game of the season, then rattled off 17 in a row before back-to-back road losses to Penn State and Ohio State in early March.

13 — Nov. 19, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005. The longest streak to date for a Lisa Bluder-coached Iowa team. Hawkeyes started 13-0, then lost eight of their next 14 and eventually settled for the WNIT. That team featured players like Jamie Cavey, Crystal Smith and Johanna Solverson.

13 — Dec. 21, 1995-Feb. 9, 1996. Angie Lee’s first team started 7-0, got blasted by Georgia, then answered with 13 straight wins to take control of the Big Ten race. Hawkeyes reached the Sweet 16 and Lee was the Associated Press national coach of the year.

13 — Jan. 30-March 19, 1987. Part of a streak in which the Hawkeyes won 21 of 22. The first 12 games of this streak was by double digits, the 13th a 62-60 Sweet 16 win over Georgia. It ended one game, one point short of the Final Four, against Louisiana Tech.

Note: Current team has won 12 in a row since a 65-58 loss to Kansas State on Nov. 16. The Hawkeyes avenged that defeat with a 77-70 win over the Wildcats 10 days later.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com