Hawkeyes hit the road to face the Big Ten leaders

IOWA CITY -- Speed. Muscle. And now, motivation.

The 16th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes will be contending with a lot when they face No. 9 Michigan State in a Big Ten women's basketball game Thursday evening.

Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. at the Breslin Center.

"I'm sure (Michigan State has) some animosity toward us," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder.

The Hawkeyes defeated Michigan State twice last year, including a victory in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

These days, nobody is beating the Spartans (15-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten). They have won 12 straight games since a 78-52 loss at Baylor, now the top-ranked team in the nation.

"Playing at their place is definitely going to be a challenge," said Iowa's Jaime Printy.

The Spartans have drawn more than 6,000 fans in each of their last four home games. Michigan State is 10-0 at home this season, and nobody has come closer than seven points.

For Iowa (14-3, 2-2), it's an opportunity to get right back into the title hunt after starting the league season at 0-2. The Hawkeyes ended a mini-slump with wins at Minnesota and at home against Ohio State, and stand in a five-way tie for fourth place, 1 1/2 games behind the Spartans.

They've risen behind a resurgent offense. The Hawkeyes scored 89 points Sunday against the Buckeyes.

Point guard Kamille Wahlin was benched for much of the Michigan game, and has responded favorably.

"She handled it extremely well," Bluder said. "She's a competitor and she wanted to be on the floor. That's just her maturity and competitiveness."

Michigan State is the deeper team. The Spartans have nine players averaging at least 13 minutes per game, and 10 tallying at least 3 points per contest. Kalisha Keane is the leader at 16.2 points per game.

"She's shooting the 3-pointer and she's posting up," Bluder said. "She's so hard to guard. She has an extremely wide body, and she knows how to use it.

"I expect a very physical game."