Michigan State Women's Basketball: Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
Michigan State women's basketball will kick off 2024 with the end of a four-game stretch on the road Tuesday night when the team takes on No. 3/4 Iowa. Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time with the game streaming exclusively on Peacock. Zora Stephenson and Meghan McKeown will be on the call
The Spartans enter the matchup on a four game win streak and sit at 11-2 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play on the season so far. MSU is coming off a 98-87 victory at Penn State Saturday when it resumed conference play.
Iowa, meanwhile, is on a 10 game win streak as it sits at 13-1 on the season, and is 2-0 in league games after beating Minnesota 94-71 on Saturday in Iowa City.
After opening its season on a three-game win streak, including a victory over then No. 8 Virginia Tech on a neutral court in Charlotte, North Carolina, Iowa fell 65-58 to unranked Kansas State on Nov. 16 at home. Since then, the Hawkeyes have rattled off 10-straight victories that included a 77-70 win in a neutral court matchup against KSU on Nov. 26.
To the surprise of nobody, Iowa is led by senior guard Caitlin Clark. She leads the Big Ten and nation in scoring with 30.9 points per game, along with a nation best 3-point shots made (68) and 3-pointers per game (4.86). Clark also ranks seventh in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.402) and 10th in the league in field goal percentage (.495). The star Iowan native is also tops in the conference and ranks fifth in the nation in assists (7.6 apg), and is also sixth in the Big Ten in rebounds per game (7.4).
Sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke and graduate guard Kate Martin both average double figures for the Hawkeyes as well with 14.4 and 12.1 ppg respectively. Stuelke is second on the team in boards with 7.4 rpg, while fifth-year guard and Midland, Michigan native Molly Davis is second on the team in helpers with 3.3 apg.
As a team, Iowa is second in the Big Ten and seventh in the NCAA in scoring offense (90.8 ppg), and 11th in the conference in scoring defense (66.0 ppg). The Hawkeyes also rank second in the league and 14th in the country in scoring margin (+24.8).
Iowa brings one of the best offenses to the court in the country, ranking second in the Big Ten and fifth in the country in field goal percentage (.513). The Hawkeyes are also among the best in the league from from beyond the arc, fifth in the B1G in 3-point percentage (.358), averaging 9.5 made 3-pointers per game, good for second in the conference and ninth in the NCAA.
Tuesday's matchup marks the lone meeting between the Spartans and Hawkeyes this season. Michigan State trails Iowa 42-30 all-time in the series, and holds a home series lead of 23-10, though the Spartans hold a narrow 17-16 advantage in East Lansing and the series is tied 3-3 on neutral courts. The Hawkeyes hold a three-game win streak in the series dating back to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament matchup, and five of the last six. The last MSU win in the series came on Dec. 12, 2020 in East Lansing when the Spartans downed the Hawkeyes 86-82.
Last season's sole meeting between the programs saw a heart-wrenching, but thrilling 84-81 overtime defeat at the Breslin Center on Jan. 18, 2023. In a game that saw 18 lead changes, MSU held Clark to 26 points while senior guard Moira Joiner and sophomore forward Isaline Alexander both notched double-doubles with 11 points and 10 boards apiece. Graduate guard Kamaria McDaniel led four Spartans in double figures for scoring with 23 points.
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