Rutgers visits No. 5 Iowa on Sunday, and it just won’t be the same

IOWA CITY — It won’t be the same.

There won’t be the warm ovation for C. Vivian Stringer as she walks out the Carver-Hawkeye Arena tunnel.

A pedestrian Rutgers club comes to town for a 2 p.m. women’s basketball meeting with No. 5 Iowa on Sunday.

“They have a new coach, a lot of new faces,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said Friday. “It’s like having a new team in the conference.”

Stringer, who coached at Iowa for 12 seasons (including a Final Four run in 1993), retired at Rutgers after last season. Her career featured 1,055 wins.

Coquese Washington is in charge of the Scarlet Knights now.

“They’re still trying to play very good defense, what Coach Stringer tried to do,” Bluder said.

Iowa (19-5 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) has played through a series of big games since early January. The Hawkeyes came through with key road wins against Michigan and Ohio State, then beat Maryland at home.

The Hawkeyes were tied with 7 minutes left at No. 2 Indiana on Thursday before bowing, 87-78.

“We had a lot of self-inflicted turnovers. Eighteen is a lot,” Bluder said. “We could have taken control of the game early if we would have valued the ball a little more.”

Still, the Hawkeyes had a chance late on the road against an elite opponent.

Rutgers, on the other hand, no longer is an elite opponent. The Scarlet Knights haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2015, and this year’s edition is 10-15 overall, 4-9 in the league.

This game, and Wednesday’s home date with Wisconsin, are absolute musts if Iowa intends to win the Big Ten regular-season championship.

“These next two games are just as important (as any other game),” Bluder said. “They will either go in the ‘L’ column on the ‘W’ column. We have to prepare the same way.”

The Hawkeyes will gameplan for freshman Kaylene Smikle, a 6-footer who averages 17.0 points per game.

“She’s really talented,” Bluder said. “She can play small forward or power forward.”

In addition to the 18 turnovers, two factors played against Iowa at Bloomington.

First, Monika Czinano attempted only six shots (she made three), and was outscored by Indiana counterpart Mackenzie Holmes, 24-6.

“We need to get Monika the ball more,” Bluder said.

Second was Hannah Stuelke’s 0-for-8 performance at the free-throw line.

To be fair, Stuelke is an emerging star. The Cedar Rapids native is a crowd favorite and one of the league’s top freshmen.

But her foul shooting — 44.3 percent this season — needs to be fixed if she is going to be on the floor late in a close game.

“I think it got into her head (at Indiana). It was a heck of an environment,” Bluder said. “She missed the first couple, and it got to her head.

“My heart aches for Hannah. She takes it really personally. The heart and the work ethic are there.

“She knows (44 percent) is unacceptable. We know it’s unacceptable. We’ll get there.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com