Iowa women need wins to earn NCAA tournament berth

INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa reached a national ranking as high as 19th in December, surprising some outsiders with its non-conference success.

The Big Ten regular season, however, was a struggle at times for the Hawkeyes, including one stretch where they lost nine of 12 games. Add it all up and the Hawkeyes enter the Big Ten tournament Thursday in Indianapolis as the ninth seed, but still with hopes of making the NCAA tournament for the ninth consecutive season.

'The expectations probably weren't as high as they were in the past (for Iowa),' said Big Ten Network analyst Stephanie White, head coach of the WNBA's Indiana Fever. 'Then they surprise people with having the early success, so then you expect them to compete for a championship. I think one of the things you started to see this year was their youth on the perimeter. I think that, while it's a struggle at times, it's very promising for the future.'

Junior Ally Disterhoft averages a team-high 16.9 points per game and was an all-Big Ten second team selection. Tania Davis and Megan Gustafson were named to the conference all-freshman team.

Iowa hopes that promising future will show up this week. White thinks the Hawkeyes can play themselves into the NCAA tournament by winning two games here.

Doing so, though, would mean pulling off an upset of league champion Maryland, ranked fifth nationally, in the quarterfinals.

The first priority, though, is Thursday's opponent: eighth-seeded Michigan. The Wolverines and Hawkeyes split their two meetings this season, each team winning at home.

Michigan beat Iowa, 82-75, in Ann Arbor on Jan. 7. The Wolverines erased a double-digit deficit by outscoring the Hawkeyes, 30-13, in the fourth quarter in that game. Iowa beat Michigan, 85-69, on Jan. 28 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'The first game we won three quarters and had a bad fourth quarter,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'I want our team to know that we've won seven of eight quarters against Michigan. In saying that, Michigan is a very balanced team. They score a lot of points and are really good offensively.'

Michigan's offense is built around sophomore Katelynn Flaherty, who averaged 22.3 points per game, third-most in the conference. Flaherty scored 31 points in the last meeting, but Davis held Flaherty to seven points in the second half of that game.

'She's going to get some and for us to say we're going to stop her is really kind of ridiculous,' Bluder said. 'We need to slow her down and make sure she doesn't have good looks. We want to make sure she earns her shots and she has to put up a lot of shots to get those numbers.

B1G Tournament Schedule

All games televised on BTN except the championship (ESPN).

FIRST ROUND — WEDNESDAY

No. 12 Northwestern 76, No. 13 Wisconsin 72 (OT)

No. 11 Penn State 75, No. 14 Illinois 66

SECOND ROUND — THURSDAY

No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Iowa, 11 a.m.

No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Northwestern, approx. 1:30 p.m.

No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 10 Rutgers, 5:30 p.m.

No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 11 Penn State, approx. 8 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS — FRIDAY

No. 1 Maryland vs. Michigan/Iowa, 11 a.m.

No. 4 Indiana vs. Minnesota/Northwestern, approx. 1:30 p.m.

No. 2 Ohio State vs. Nebraska/Rutgers, 5:30 p.m.

No. 3 Michigan State vs. Purdue/Penn State, approx. 8 p.m.

SEMIFINALS — SATURDAY

Top Bracket, 2 p.m.

Bottom Bracket, approx. 4:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP — SUNDAY

6 p.m.