Iowa, Tennessee square off for first time since 1993 Elite Eight battle

IOWA CITY — Stringer vs. Summitt.

That was the coaching matchup, nearly 32 years ago, when Iowa last faced Tennessee in women’s basketball.

Two legends. And the stakes couldn’t have been higher.

Iowa won it, 72-56, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, advancing to the 1993 Final Four.

The Hawkeyes and the Lady Vols haven’t met since. They will Saturday, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“It was nice to have a no-lose November,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said Tuesday; the 17th-ranked Hawkeyes are 8-0. “I love the fight in our team. Now the schedule amps up.”

Tipoff is 6 p.m. (Iowa time) in a game televised nationally by Fox.

Jensen said it was “more likely than not” that Lucy Olsen will return after missing two games at the Cancun Challenge due to a cut to her knee last week.

If so, the timing is good. Olsen’s scoring — and more importantly, her ball handling — will be needed against a Tennessee squad that is 6-0 and forcing opponents into 28.0 turnovers per game.

“Their press ... their shortest player is 5-foot-10; they’ve got a lot of size,” Jensen said. “Make or miss, they’ve got two or three different types of press. They keep coming at you.”

Olsen said, “Tennessee is a great team. Their defense is crazy. We have to be ready for their pressure.”

If Olsen is back, the Hawkeyes will finally be fully stocked at point guard. Aaliyah Guyton played two effective games at Cancun, averaging 9.0 points per game in Mexico.

Taylor Stremlow, meanwhile, was effective in the starting lineup in Olsen’s absence.

“I don’t know if we could have won without Aaliyah down there,” Jensen said. “I was so impressed with her. You ask her to go in and handle the pressure. Oh, and we need you to direct the offense.”

All three of Iowa’s point guards are newcomers to the program. Olsen is a senior transfer from Villanova; Stremlow and Guyton are freshmen.

“It’s unfortunate I couldn’t play (in Cancun),” Olsen said. “But it was cool seeing other people step up. It gave Aaliyah and Taylor experience that they’re going to need down the road.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com