Iowa Women's Basketball to play BYU and Rhode Island in the Cancun Challenge
The Iowa Women’s Basketball team is heading to Mexico for Thanksgiving. For the fourth time in program history, the will take part in the Cancun Challenge hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. On Thursday, the tournament announced the official schedule, which revealed that Iowa will face off against BYU and Rhode Island.
November 28th – vs Rhode Island 6:30pm CT
November 29th – vs BYU 8:00pm CT
It will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Cougars and the Hawkeyes, while it will be their first since BYU moved to the Big 12. Iowa has never beaten BYU, with the last meeting coming in 2006. This past season, in their inaugural season as a Big 12 member, BYU finished with a 16-17 overall record, including an appearance in the WNIT. The Cougars will look a bit different, as All-Big 12 forward Lauren Gustin graduated, starting guard Nani Falatea transferred to Oregon and their leading returning scorer Kailey Woolston will be on a mission trip.
It will be the first all-time meeting between the Rams and the Hawkeyes. Iowa owns a 5-0 record against current Atlantic 10 teams, including a 98-69 win over Loyola-Chicago last season. This past season, Rhode Island finished with a 21-14 overall record and fell just short of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Richmond in the A10 Tournament final. This year, they lose their top three scorers, including All-A10 forward Mayé Touré, but they do return fourth-leading scorer and senior guard Sophie Phillips.
The Hawkeyes are set to open the regular season on November 6th at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the Northern Illinois Huskies. It will be the official head coaching debut for Jan Jensen.
