| OPPONENT | #21 Iowa (6-3, 1-0) vs. Evansville (6-4, 0-0) |
| LOCATION | Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena) |
| DATE | Sunday, Jan. 2 |
| TIP-OFF | 11 a.m. (CT) |
| TV | B1G Network |
The Setting
The No. 21 University of Iowa women’s basketball team hosts the Evansville Purple Aces on Sunday, Jan. 2 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. (CT) on B1G Network.
Sunday’s matchup is the second for the Hawkeyes and Purple Aces. Iowa won the first game, 76-64, during the 1983-84 season on a neutral court.
ON THE AIR
Radio: Iowa games are broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network. Rob Brooks (play-by-play) and Jamie Cavey Lang (color) call the action. Brooks is in his sixth year as the play-by-play announcer for the Iowa women’s basketball team. He has been Iowa football’s sideline reporter since 2004. Brooks has called seven different Iowa sports on radio or television. Lang is in her sixth year as Iowa’s color commentator. She lettered at Iowa from 2002-05. Lang finished her Hawkeye career with 1,265 points and 506 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Big Ten selection.
TV:
Sunday’s contest will air live on B1G Network. Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Meghan McKeown (color) are on the call.
PROGRAM QUICK HITS
- The Hawkeyes finished the 2020-21 season 20-10 overall and 11-8 in Big Ten play, advancing to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game and the NCAA Sweet 16.
- The Hawkeyes finished the season ranked in the top-11 nationally in 11 statistical categories, including first in field goal percentage (51.3) and 3-point percentage (40.8), second in scoring offense (86.1), third in free-throw percentage (80.0), and fifth in assists per game (20.1).
- Head Coach Lisa Bluder and staff led Iowa to its 12th 20-win season over the last 14 seasons and 14th in Bluder’s tenure.
- Freshman Caitlin Clark earned consensus first team All-America status with honors from WBCA, USBWA, and The Athletic. Associated Press named Clark to their second team.
- Clark was named National Co-Freshman of the Year by The Athletic, USBWA, and the WBCA.She was also named the Dawn Staley Award recipient — an award that goes to the best guard in women’s basketball.
- In the Big Ten, Clark was named Freshman of the Year, unanimous first team All-Big Ten, unanimously selected to the all-freshman team. Junior Monika Czinano earned first team all-Big Ten honors. The pair were also named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team.
- Clark and Czinano led the country in seven statistical categories, including Czinano leading the country in shooting percentage (66.8) and Clark leading in points per game (26.6), total assists (214),
- Iowa has made 13 consecutive postseason appearances (11 NCAA, 2 WNIT) when a postseason tournament was held. The 2020 postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Hawkeyes have made a postseason tournament appearance in 19 of head coach Lisa Bluder’s 21 seasons at the helm of the program, receiving 14 NCAA Tournament and four WNIT (2003, 2005, 2016, 2017) bids, including eight Sweet 16 appearances — most recently in 2021.
- Bluder is one of six active Division I women’s head coaches to win 795 games or more in her career. She completes her 37th season as a head coach and 21st at Iowa in 2020-21.
- Bluder owns a 445-237 (.652) record and a 221-135 (.621) conference mark at Iowa. In her 37 seasons as a head coach, Bluder is 801-379 (.679).
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
- Sunday’s matchup is the second for the Hawkeyes and Purple Aces. Iowa won the first game, 76-64, during the 1983-84 season on a neutral court.
- Evansville is 6-4 on the season.
- Three Purple Aces average double-figure scoring, including junior guard Je’Naiya Davis (20.6), junior guard/forward Abby Feit (18.9) and senior guard Myia Clark (13.1).
- Feit averages a double-double adding 10.3 rebounds per game. The Normal, Illinois, native ranks seventh in the country, averaging 8.2 defensive rebounds per game.
- The Purple Aces rank 34th in forced turnovers (21.1) and 43rd in turnover margin (4.9).
- Head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells was named as the 11th head coach in Evansville women’s basketball program history on April 20, 2021. Scherr-Wells coached for seven seasons in the NAIA with Roosevelt University and Davenport University, winning six conference championships, while also helping rebuild programs at Florida International University and Davidson College as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level. Scherr-Wells spent the 2020-21 season as assistant coach at Florida International University, where she was part of a staff that helped lead the Panthers to their best record in nearly a decade.
(HAWK)EYES ON THE SEASON
- The Hawkeyes are 6-3 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play with their most recent win over Central Florida, 69-61, — the third best defense in the nation.
- Sophomore Caitlin Clark leads Iowa, averaging 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. Clark’s 6.7 assists per game ranks fifth in the country, while she ranks sixth nationally in defensive rebounds (8.3) and points per game (22.0) and is the only Division I women’s basketball player to tally two triple-doubles this season.
- Clark and junior McKenna Warnock have each tallied double-doubles this season. Clark has tallied five on the season, including two triple-doubles, while Warnock has registered one.
- Senior Monika Czinano and Warnock average 17.9 and 12.3 points per game. The pair also average 7.3 (Warnock) and 5.1 (Czinano) rebounds per game.
- Czinano ranks seventh in the nation in field goal percentage (63.6).
- Redshirt junior Kate Martin and junior Gabbie Marshall have tallied 16 and 15 steals, respectively.
- Iowa is leading the country in free-throw percentage (.835), ranks 12th in assists per game (18.7), 16th in defensive rebounds per game (30.3) and 19th in scoring (79.7).