No. 3 Hawkeyes Await Indiana's Arrival

Hoosiers' Trip to Iowa City Delayed By Winter Storm

Iowa’s women’s basketball team plays host to Indiana on Saturday night in a nationally-televised game that will determine sole ownership of the Big Ten lead … maybe.

The Hoosiers aren’t going to be able to make it to Iowa City until Saturday morning at the earliest because of the winter storm that has limited travel throughout Iowa. That means the 7 p.m. game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is still on the schedule, but anything is possible.

“We’re hoping for a game tomorrow,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said on Friday morning.

It’s a big one. Iowa (16-1, 5-0 Big Ten) is ranked third nationally, while Indiana (14-1, 5-0) is ranked 14th. The game is a sellout, and will be televised nationally by FOX in prime time.

The Hoosiers were originally scheduled to travel to Iowa Friday afternoon. The team reportedly tried to get a flight on Thursday, but a plane wasn’t available.

Iowa had similar travel concerns earlier in the week with a Wednesday game at Purdue, but was able to move up its departure time to Monday afternoon to beat the earlier winter storm that hit the area.

“We contacted (Indiana) yesterday morning, just to make sure they knew there was a storm coming and if they wanted to go and come in yesterday like we did with the Purdue game,” Bluder said. “And they did not want to do that. So I don't know if they're going to make it in today, tomorrow. I don't know what's going on.”

If the Hoosiers can’t make it to Iowa City and the game has to be postponed, the two schools have 48 hours to work out a scheduling arrangement and then after that, the Big Ten will make the decision, Bluder said.

Both teams play January 21. Iowa has a home game on January 27 against Nebraska, while Indiana has a home game against Northwestern the following day. So there is room that week for a rescheduled game — the only conflict at Carver-Hawkeye Arena that week is a men’s basketball game against Maryland on January 24.

“I haven’t looked that far down the line, at all,” Bluder said. “You’re right, there could be something there.”

Bluder said her team was sticking to the usual schedule to prepare for the game.

“We’re going to proceed as if the game is tomorrow,” Bluder said. “That’s how we have to proceed. And so, we’ll have our normal practice today, as if we were preparing for tomorrow. That’s what you have to do, in my opinion.”

Indiana is on a 13-game winning streak. Center Mackenzie Holmes averages 19.7 points per game and is sixth nationally in field-goal percentage at .665. Guard Sara Scalia averages 15.3 points, and is 16th nationally with 45 3-pointers.

“It’s almost like you’ve got to pick your poison, right?” Bluder said. “Three is greater than two, so I guess we’re going to focus on that. “It’s just really difficult when you have such a good post and such good 3-point shooters on the outside.”

Iowa has its own 13-game winning streak to protect.

“I do feel really good about the way that we played at Purdue (in Wednesday’s 96-71 win) and how many people got involved in the offense,” Bluder said. “I mean, five people in double figures (in scoring) is amazing. So I do feel like we're playing some of our best basketball right now. And that's really important when you're playing against a team like Indiana, who is so good offensively as well.”