Jeff Linder

Women’s basketball: Lisa Bluder on an early Big Ten bye, and some midseason assessments. No. 16 Iowa plays at No. 14 Michigan on Sunday.

Watch or listen to the January 5, 2023, Prep Basketball Podcast as Jeff Johnson and Jeff Linder discuss the latest talking points in Iowa high school basketball.

Girls’ basketball: Giant-slaying Linn-Mar takes down its biggest titan yet. Lions hit 14 3-pointers (eight by Zoe Kennedy) in a double-overtime conquest of No. 1 Waterloo West on Tuesday.

Girls’ basketball: Class 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier is remarkably crisp (only five turnovers) in a 67-43 back-from-break victory over Iowa City Liberty.

Girls’ basketball season reset: North Linn looks like the area’s heaviest league-title favorite, and the race of highest intrigue, again, is the Wamac West.

Women’s basketball: New and improved Illinois, already with its most wins in 8 years, hosts No. 12 Iowa in a Big Ten biggie Sunday.

The Gazette’s Jeff Linder reveals where he would place Waverly-Shell Rock, and how he would redraw the rest of the Iowa high school conference landscape.

Monika Czinano joined Caitlin Clark (and three others) in the Iowa women’s basketball 2,000-point club, McKenna Warnock and Hannah Stuelke make major contributions and No. 12 Iowa whipped Purdue, 83-68. A crowd of nearly 12,000 included signee Ava Jones.

Women’s basketball: Iowa’s Big Ten chase resumes Thursday vs. Purdue. Hawkeyes have won 5 straight, but there are issues to be addressed. Also, junior Taylor Stremlow commits.

Women’s basketball: Projecting the 2022-23 Big Ten race. As many as six teams could contend for the title, and the pick here is Indiana.

Girls’ basketball: The Gazette’s 2023 mock regional brackets.

Prep football: Iowa member schools overwhelmingly pass measure dealing with enrollment and classification based on free and reduced lunch. Next up: Iowa Department of Education.

Girls’ basketball notes: Chasing its first Upper Iowa Conference title since 1976, Elkader Central is 7-0 (with three postponements).

Area girls’ basketball Super Ten (Dec. 21): North Linn takes over the top spot; Benton Community makes a big jump.

Women’s basketball: Iowa routs Dartmouth 92-54, and Caitlin Clark reaches the 2,000-point mark in 75 games, matching Elena Delle Donne’s NCAA record.