Hawkeyes could stand to win a close one Wednesday at Michigan

IOWA CITY — It feels a lot like spring this week, so let’s plant some seeds, shall we?

Big Ten women’s basketball tournament seeds.

Iowa (18-9 overall, 8-8 Big Ten) plays at Michigan (19-8, 10-6) Wednesday — tipoff is 6 p.m. (CT) at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. — and if the Hawkeyes want to avoid playing on the opening day in Indianapolis next week, victory is a prerequisite.

As the conference regular season heads to its final week, 15 games remain to be played, so that means 32,768 scenarios still exist.

In the most likely chain of events, the Hawkeyes can be a 9-seed in Indianapolis if they win both of their remaining games (they will be a heavy favorite when they host Wisconsin on Sunday).

Lose Wednesday, and an 11-seed appears to be their most likely fate.

The top 15 teams advance to the tournament, which starts next Wednesday, March 5. Six of them (seeds 10-15) will play on the first day, with the top nine beginning action March 6.

After two straight down-to-the-wire defeats against top-10 teams, this looks like another nail-biter.

“We’ve been so close the last two games,” Taylor McCabe said after a 67-65 home loss to No. 2 UCLA on Sunday. “We know we can play with anybody.

“We’re going to let it hurt a bit, then we’ll be back at it.”

Iowa had won six straight games, then rallied from 12 points down in the final 90 seconds to force overtime Feb. 17 at No. 8 Ohio State (the Buckeyes ultimately prevailed, 86-78).

The Hawkeyes were up 12 points in the middle of the third quarter Sunday, then UCLA came back and won with a pair of three throws with 3.8 seconds left.

“We were battling,” Coach Jan Jensen said. “It came down to the third quarter when we didn’t execute. I can’t fault our effort. We made some bad decisions at the wrong times.

“Dog-gone it.”

There have been a few “dog-gone-its” this season.

All of Iowa’s nine losses have been by 10 points or less. In games that came down to the final possession of regulation, the Hawkeyes are 0-5.

Games are close. The Hawkeyes are close.

Michigan has won five of its last six games to climb into the middle of traffic in the mid-high reaches of the conference race.

With two wins and some breaks, the Wolverines could potentially earn a top-four double-bye. With two losses, they could potentially drop all the way out of a single-bye.

Michigan has four double-figure scorers, led by Olivia Olson (16.3 ppg).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com