‘Important game’ with Illinois looms for Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY — The term 'must-win' is both cliche and overused, but here are the facts:

The Iowa women's basketball team is 1-2 in the Big Ten, and Maryland is on deck.

Lose to Illinois on Wednesday, and the Hawkeyes are in danger of getting buried in the second division.

'It's an important game,' Coach Lisa Bluder acknowledged Monday. 'It's an opportunity to redeem ourselves a little bit.'

Tip time is 7 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'I wouldn't use the term 'must-win,'' point guard Tania Davis said. 'I would use the term 'redemption.' The only thing I remember about our last game (with Illinois) was it was a loss. That's the only thing we need to remember.'

The early Big Ten schedule lent itself to a fast start for the Hawkeyes (10-6 overall), but it hasn't happened. Iowa is shooting 22.1 percent from 3-point range in conference play.

'We're getting good 3s, and we're taking good 3s,' Bluder said. 'That stretch against UNI and Iowa State, we were putting them down. We've got to get that mind-set back.'

Iowa opened its conference slate with a 70-65 loss in Champaign on Dec. 28. Illinois last swept a season series from the Hawkeyes in 2002-03.

'They're a team that is getting better and better,' Bluder said. '(Alex) Wittinger is an outstanding player. Petra (Holesinska) is shooting the 3-ball very well.'

Illinois (7-9, 2-1) clobbered Rutgers, 78-41, Saturday.

The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, will be playing their first game since a 71-58 loss at Penn State on Jan. 3. Presumably, shooting was a focus. Here were some others:

'As a team, we really worked on our energy, our turnovers and defensive transition,' sophomore post Megan Gustafson said. 'We had really good practices (Thursday and Friday). Everybody was working really hard.'

Gustafson leads the Hawkeyes at 17.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, and her 66.9-percent shooting rate is sixth-best in the nation.

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