Iowa didn’t leave much doubt in its win over Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes controlled the game from the opening tip, built a 40-11 halftime cushion and never let the in-state matchup get close, even with former star Lucy Olsen in the building. After the humbling loss to UConn, Iowa answered by holding UNI to a season-low 40 points and showing why it belongs in the top 10.
The most striking part of the night was Iowa’s defense. Northern Iowa is in rebuild mode after losing multiple players from last season, but the Hawkeyes still made life miserable for the Panthers.
They forced 17 turnovers in the first half alone, finished with 26 for the game, and added three blocks and 11 steals. The pressure came from everywhere, and the length and athleticism on this roster showed up in a big way.
Amari Whiting has fit right into the Kylie Feuerbach-type defensive role, taking on the opponent’s top perimeter threat and making things uncomfortable at the point of attack. McKenna Woliczko gives Jan Jensen even more flexibility, too. She can guard multiple spots, and she even logged minutes at center, which only adds to her value on both ends.
The bench helped fuel that defensive edge as well. Taylor Stremlow, Journey Houston and Jocelyn Faison combined for eight of Iowa’s 11 steals, and each brings a different kind of defensive versatility.
Stremlow and Houston bring the hustle and grit, while Faison’s length and athleticism give Iowa another useful piece. The Hawkeyes won’t force 26 turnovers every night, but doing it against UNI after generating 17 against UConn says plenty.
Dani Carnegie also looked much more comfortable. After a slow start to her Iowa career following a First-Team All-SEC season at Georgia, she delivered her best all-around game yet.
Carnegie had 22 points, six assists and four rebounds against UNI, a strong follow-up to back-to-back 12-point games against Eastern Illinois and UConn. She entered the night shooting 40 percent from the field and 20 percent from three, and while she has never been known as an elite outside shooter, she had hit 35.4 percent from deep last season.
Iowa needs her production because the offense runs through her.
That adjustment period was always part of the deal. Carnegie spent most of the summer with the Team USA 3x3 squad and had a quick turnaround before arriving in Iowa City. She has already shown enough to suggest the breakout is coming.
Woliczko had one of the clearest bounce-back performances of the night. After calling her outing against UConn a "freshman game" and getting held to 4 points on 20 percent shooting, she responded with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds against Northern Iowa.
She shot 67 percent from the field, hit two threes and continued showing growth as a perimeter threat. Woliczko is tied for third on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game and leads Iowa in rebounding at 5.8 per game, while also giving the Hawkeyes defensive versatility.
There is still one area that needs cleaning up fast: turnovers. Iowa gave it away 20 times against Northern Iowa, and Jan Jensen made it clear afterward that the post entries were not good enough.
She was especially unhappy with the way the Hawkeyes fed the post and said they could have gone to Ava Heiden more often. Through four games, Iowa is averaging 15 turnovers a night, and that kind of sloppiness is going to matter a lot more once Big Ten play arrives.
The margin for error gets much smaller there. The conference is loaded, with 10 teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25, and Iowa can’t afford to be casual with the ball.
The offense depends on timing and movement, and if the passing gets loose or the post entries get sloppy, things can bog down quickly. The good news for Iowa is that these issues look fixable.
The pieces are there, the chemistry is there, and the Hawkeyes have already shown they can overwhelm an opponent when everything clicks.
In Other News...
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The FAAs rare nationwide ground stop was issued for safety reasons and rippled beyond this matchup, affecting multiple programs and leaving other games with some uncertainty. For Iowa, the game against Purdue is still set for Saturday evening, but the unusual travel disruption adds another layer to a meeting that was already going to be watched closely. [Read more 🡒]
Boston Everitts Family Went To Extremes Just To See Him Punt
The travel chaos that hit the country on Nov. 13 ended up becoming part of the story for one Iowa family, as the FAAs nationwide ground stop forced a cascade of flight delays and schedule changes around college football. Peter Everitt, the father of Iowa punter Boston Everitt, was among those caught up in it, and he still managed to make the long trip to Iowa City to watch his son play.
It took him 36 hours to get there, a reminder of how far families will go for a chance to see a special teams moment that usually lasts only a few seconds. Boston Everitt has become an important piece of Iowas kicking game this season, ranking among the Big Tens punters and landing on the Ray Guy Award Midseason watch list, which made the effort feel especially worth it for the Everitts. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Faces An Early Reality Check Against A Team It Still Hasn't Solved
No. 10 Iowa gets an early measuring-stick game Thursday in Sioux City, where the Hawkeyes meet No. 8 Vanderbilt at the Tyson Events Center. It is the kind of nonconference matchup that can sharpen a team quickly, and for Iowa it also brings a familiar frustration into focus, since the Hawkeyes are still looking for their first win in the series.
Vanderbilt arrives with a high-powered offense that has been putting up 103.8 points per game, with Mikayla Blakes and Mia Woolfolk leading the charge. Iowa has its own balance, with Dani Carnegie among several Hawkeyes scoring in double figures, but this one asks whether that depth can keep pace with a team that has already had Iowas number four times before. [Read more 🡒]