Hawkeyes push for move into upper division

IOWA CITY -- They've reached the three-quarter pole, and they're thundering away on the outside, looking to make a late move.

Put simply, the Iowa Hawkeyes are hot. Their four-game win streak is the longest of the season.

"I think we have a good feel right now," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. "I think that we're positioning ourselves well for these last games going into the Big Ten tournament."

And, maybe, beyond.

The Hawkeyes (15-10 overall, 7-5 Big Ten) host Michigan State (15-9, 7-4) at 2 p.m. Sunday with an opportunity to leapfrog the Spartans in the Big Ten standings. An Iowa win would put the Hawkeyes alone in fifth place.

It's jockeying time. Iowa still has two games with Michigan (18-7, 7-5) and one at Northwestern (13-11, 3-8). It's likely that the Hawkeyes will finish somewhere between fifth and seventh, and that's probably near the cut line for the NCAA Tournament.

"The game against Michigan State is very important because it's our (only) meeting with them all year," Bluder said. "If it comes down to a tiebreaker, head-to-head competition is what we go to first of all."

Iowa is 2-0 since losing Jaime Printy to a season-ending ACL tear. The Hawkeyes needed added contributions across the board, and have gotten them.

Melissa Dixon came through in her first start of the season, scoring 19 points in an 83-64 win at Indiana, then Morgan Johnson and Samantha Logic stepped forward against Minnesota on Thursday.

Johnson scored 23 points -- joining the 1,000-point club -- and Logic matched a career high with 20 in the Hawkeyes' 75-58 win.

MICHIGAN STATE  (15-9, 7-4) at IOWA (15-10, 7-5)

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City

Tipoff: 2 p.m. Sunday

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WMT-AM (600), KXIC-AM (800)

Notable: Iowa's four-game winning streak is the longest of the season. Morgan Johnson became the 32nd player in Iowa history to score 1,000 career points; she's now has 1,004. Kamille Wahlin is the first player in school history to collect 400 career assists and 200 career 3-pointers. Michigan State's Porsche Poole has surpassed 20 points in the Spartans' last four games.

Next up for Iowa: At Michigan, 7 p.m. Thursday.

BIG TEN STANDINGS

Conf.

All

Purdue

9-2

19-5

Penn State

9-3

19-5

Ohio State

8-3

21-3

Nebraska

8-3

19-4

Michigan State

7-4

15-9

Michigan

7-5

18-7

Iowa

7-5

15-10

Minnesota

4-8

12-14

Wisconsin

4-8

8-16

Northwestern

3-8

13-11

Illinois

3-9

9-16

Indiana

0-11

5-19

THURSDAY'S GAMES

Minnesota at Iowa, 7 p.m.

Northwestern at Michigan State, 5 p.m.

Wisconsin at Penn State, 6 p.m.

Ohio State at Illinois, 7 p.m.

Michigan at Nebraska, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY'S GAMES

Michigan State at Iowa, 2 p.m.

Penn State at Northwestern, 1 p.m.

Illinois at Indiana, 1 p.m.

Purdue at Ohio State, 4 p.m.

MONDAY'S GAME

Nebraska at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m.