Top-10 Hawkeyes take a rising defense on the road to face explosive Maryland

IOWA CITY — For Jan Jensen, knowledge of a milestone came from neither the media nor sports information.

It came from her daughter, Janie.

“She sent me a text, ‘Hey, Mama ... ,’” Jensen said Tuesday.

Hey, Mama, you’re in the Associated Press top 10 for the first time as a head coach.

Iowa (16-2 overall, 7-0 Big Ten) reached that level — they’re at No. 10 — on the strength of a six-game winning streak. It is the Hawkeyes’ highest ranking of the post-Clark, post-Bluder era.

The tricky part is staying there. The Hawkeyes started a grueling five-game stretch with a 75-68 win over Michigan State on Sunday.

Up next: No. 15 Maryland (17-3, 5-3) at 5 p.m. (CT) Thursday at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.

Then it’s Ohio State at home on Sunday, then a trip to Los Angeles for games with USC and UCLA next week.

Thursday, though, that’s more than enough to keep the Hawkeyes’ attention.

“It’s just a tough place to play,” Jensen said. “(Maryland Coach) Brenda (Frese) is an excellent coach. She’s a great motivator, on top of knowing the game.

“They’re going to press all of the time, on misses, makes, free throws.”

It will be a formidable challenge, but the cliche is that defense travels, and the Hawkeyes can defend.

Remember five years ago, when Iowa ranked dead last (359th) in the nation in scoring defense at 80.3 points per game allowed?

This year, that rate is 61.8, Iowa’s best since 1996-97.

“Three, four, five years ago, we were so heavily wired offensively,” Jensen said. “I thought (defense) was an area that we could equalize what we lost (offensively), and the staff was on board.”

“We had the length of Lucy (Olsen). Kylie (Feuerbach) is a great defender. Hannah (Stuelke) is exceptional.”

“I thought, if we could get that a little different, it changes the narrative. Defense is the same anywhere. You can’t blame the rims. You can’t blame the ball.“

“We really put an emphasis on it, and Kylie and Hannah have set the tone.”

The Hawkeyes are holding teams to 38.8-percent shooting from the field, 30.6 percent from long distance.

They’ll have their mitts full with a Maryland outfit that scores at an 84.8-point rate.

Stuelke earned three major awards this week — Big Ten player of the week, AP national player of the week, and USBWA national player of the week — after averaging 20.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in two games last week.

Addie Deal was the Big Ten freshman of the week.

“Addie is just getting more comfortable. She’s hitting more of those shots now,” Jensen said. “It was just a matter of letting her play more relaxed. Have her play with joy, a little bit of lightness.”

One of the next orders of business is to reignite Taylor McCabe’s outside shooting. The senior has made 13 of 49 3-point tries (26.5 percent) in the last six games.

“The percentages are in her favor now,” Jensen said of McCabe, who returned to the Carver floor for extra shooting after Sunday’s 3-of-12 performance.

“You try to get her to drop her shoulders. She’s a sensational shooter. I’m not the least bit worried about it, and I don’t think she should be, either.

“Sometimes the best defender is the one that’s in our mind. Taylor has a good defender in her mind right now.”

And yet, the Hawkeyes are 16-2 and ranked 10th.

“I think it’s nice. I don’t get so keyed up. I want to be there at the end,” Jensen said. “We hit another plateau, but it’s another level of chatter and excitement.

“We took a moment to celebrate. It was a moment, just a moment. It’s a step (toward) everything we want to have in the next three months.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com