Hawkeyes face home challenge vs. Michigan

IOWA CITY - To compete for a championship, it is said, you must defend home court.

And that makes this week so very important for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Off to its best conference start in 17 years, 18th-ranked Iowa (14-3, 5-1) returns to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face Michigan (12-5, 4-2) in a women's basketball encounter Thursday.

Tipoff is 8 p.m.

'It's good to be back home,” said senior guard Samantha Logic. 'We feel comfortable here.”

The Hawkeyes are 10-0 at Carver this season and own a 13-game regular-season home win streak. None of Iowa's home games this season have been closer than seven points.

'We play very confident at home,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'It means a lot to defend our home court.”

On the other hand ...

'Sometimes it's who you play,” she said. 'We don't play Maryland at home. We haven't played Nebraska at home, yet.”

The Big Ten season is one-third complete. Iowa is tied for second place with Minnesota, a game behind league newcomer Maryland.

'We're happy at 5-1, though we feel we could be 6-0 right now,” Logic said. 'Michigan always plays us really well. They compete hard with us every single time.”

The Wolverines have won four of the last eight meetings with Iowa, and none of the four Iowa wins have been determined by more than eight points. Thursday figures to be another challenge.

'I thought they'd be a little down this year, but they sure aren't,” Bluder said.

The game matches two of the Big Ten's top outside shooting outfits. Led by Katelynn Flaherty and Siera Thompson, the Wolverines are shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range. Iowa is at 38.5 percent and is paced by Melissa Dixon, who leads the nation in 3-pointers per game (3.94) and is eighth in 3-point accuracy (46.2 percent).

Both teams have four players averaging in double figures. Dixon leads the Hawkeyes at 15.9 points per game; Cyesha Goree paces Michigan at 14.7.

Iowa is coming off a 52-50 grind of a victory at Michigan State on Sunday.

'It's not the traditional way in which we win games,” Bluder said. 'It's good to see we can win different ways.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com