Iowa Women's Basketball Tip Time Preview: Rutgers

#4 IOWA HAWKEYES (14-1) AT RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (6-10)

TIME: 5:00pm CT

TV: Big Ten Network – Jason Horowitz and Meghan McKeown

SERIES: 16th Meeting – Iowa leads the series 12-3 – Iowa has won 12 of the last 13 meetings

THE NUMBERS

OFFENSE: IOWA: 89.8 PPG, 50.6% FG, 35.3% 3PT, 14.4 TO RUTGERS: 68.6 PPG, 42.6% FG, 32.7% 3PT, 18.3 TO

DEFENSE: IOWA: 66.5 PPG, 38.5% FG, 28.9% 3PT, 15.3 TO, +10.5 REB MARGIN RUTGERS: 66.3 PPG, 39.1% FG, 30.7% 3PT, 15.4 TO, +4.9 REB MARGIN

IOWA HAWKEYES PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Caitlin Clark	Point Guard	6-0/ Sr.	Averaging 31.5 PPG, 6.9 REB and 7.4 AST. Leads the country in points (472), assists (111) and three-pointers (76). 40 pts, 5 ast vs Michigan State.
Gabbie Marshall	Guard	5-9/ 5th Sr.	Averaging 4.1 PPG and shooting 25.4% from three-point range. Made just 2 of her last 20 three-pointers.
Kate Martin	Guard	6-0/ Grad Sr	Averaging 11.7 PPG, 5.5 REB and 2.5 AST. Shooting a career-high 54.1% from the floor. 6 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast vs Michigan State.
Molly Davis	Guard	5-7/ 5th Sr.	Averaging 5.1 PPG, 3.1 REB and 3.2 AST. Racked up 3+ assists in 11 of 15 games. 8 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast vs Michigan State.
Hannah Stuelke	Forward	6-2/ Soph.	Averaging 14.4 PPG and 7.2 REB. Shooting 65.8% from the floor and second on the team in made field goals (73). 15 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl vs Michigan State.

RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kaylene Smikle	Guard	6-0/ Soph.	Questionable. 16.1 PPG, 5.1 REB and 2.5 AST. Scored in double figures in 11 games. Missed last game for an unknown reason.
Mya Petticord	Guard	5-9/ Soph.	Texas A&M transfer. Averaging 9.0 PPG and 3.4 REB. Scored in double figures in three of eight games played. 14 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast vs Purdue.
Destiny Adams	Forward	6-3/ Jr.	UNC transfer. Averaging 12.8 PPG and 7.5 REB. Leads the team in steals (30), second in FG% (52.0%). 23 pts, 13 reb vs Purdue.
Antonia Bates	Forward	6-3/ Soph.	Questionable. Averaging 3.9 PPG, 3.3 REB and 2.8 AST. Missed last game for an unknown reason.
Chyna Cornwell	Center	6-3/ Sr.	Averaging 8.7 PPG and 8.4 REB. Leads the team in FG% (53.7%) and rebounds (135). 10+ rebounds in seven games.

RUTGERS PLAYERS TO WATCH: G Kaylene Smikle and F Destiny Adams

It will be interesting to see if the Scarlet Knights best player even suits up for tonight’s game. She missed their last game against Purdue and played just five minutes against Northwestern, but never appeared on the availability report. If she is able to go, it will be huge boost. She is averaging a team-leading 16.1 points, as well as 5.1 rebounds. Lisa Bluder said she is a threat to shoot, drive, post up and pulling down offensive rebounds. Last year against the Hawkeyes she put up 28 points and five rebounds, including 9/14 shooting. This season she has six games with 20+ points, including a career-high 33 points against Delaware State. Rutgers needs her to be available to play.

The other top player to watch is North Carolina transfer Destiny Adams. After spending two years with the Tar Heels, Adams has stepped in as a double digit scorer for the Scarlet Knights. She has put up 11 games in double figures and eight games with 8+ rebounds, including four double-doubles. Adams is not a threat from behind the arc, but is shooting a team-high 53.0% from two-point range. With two starters out against Purdue, Adams put up 23 points and 13 rebounds, so she has the ability to make a big impact. With three 6’3 players in the lineup at times, she could go up against 6’0 Kate Martin and 5’11 Syndey Affolter for stretches.

IOWA PLAYER TO WATCH: G Sharon Goodman

We have not seen much of Sharon Goodman lately. She is averaging just 8.6 minutes over the last five games and played a season-low five minutes against Michigan State. Some of that has had to do with matchups, but the coaching staff has gone with Hannah Stuelke at the five in most situations. However, this feels like a game that Goodman has to get minutes in do to the height of the Rutgers frontcourt. Sharon scored in double figures in four of the first nine games and is still averaging 12.9 rebounds per 40 minutes. If she gets extended minutes tonight, the Hawkeyes will need her contributions mostly on the glass and on defense.

BIGGEST KEY TO VICTORY: Rebounding on both ends of the floor

If everyone plays for Rutgers, they will have the second tallest starting lineup the Hawkeyes have seen this season, standing at 366 inches, which is just behind Kansas State (367). What makes the Scarlet Knights lineup so unique is that they have 6’3 players at center, power forward and small forward. That has allowed to pull down a Big Ten leading 220 offensive rebounds. Chyna Cornwell (51), Destiny Adams (44) and Kassondra Brown (35) are 1st, 2nd and 7th in the conference in offensive rebounds. The Hawkeyes have to limit the second chances they allow, otherwise Rutgers will be able to extend possessions and shorten the game.

On the other end of the floor, the story is the exact opposite. Iowa will try to take advantage of the Scarlet Knights defensive rebounding struggles. Despite ranking so highly on the offensive end, they rank 224th on the defensive end. The Hawkeyes are sixth in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds, led by Hannah Stuelke (37) and Syd Affolter (30). It will be interesting to see how the rebounding shakes out.

THE BREAKDOWN

In her second season as head coach, Coquese Washington has the Scarlet Knights off to a 6-10 start to the season, but they are still winless in Big Ten play after three games. Rutgers is 6-0 against Q4 teams, but 0-10 against all other teams. They did keep things close against #14 Indiana (66-56), Princeton (66-55) and Purdue (77-76).

The other starting guard alongside Smikle in a height heavy lineup is Texas A&M transfer Mya Petticord. She has missed some time with an injury, but has started all eight games she has played in. Petticord rejoined the lineup for the last two games and has 26 points on 10/22 shooting, as well as seven rebounds. A four-star in the ’22 class, Petticord had an Iowa offer out of high school.

Looking at the rest of the starting lineup, the Scarlet Knights have 6’3 forward Antonia Bates and 6’3 center Chyna Cornwell. Bates is questionable tonight, after missing last game for an unknown reason. She has scored in double figures twice and has pulled down 5+ rebounds in three games. For Chyna Cornwell, she is averaging 13.6 points and 13.2 rebounds per 40 minutes. She ranks first in the Big Ten with 51 offensive rebounds and fourth in rebounds per game (8.4). Cornwell has scored in double figures in seven games, but is averaging just 5.3 points and 4.5 shots per game over the last six games.

Off the bench, the Scarlet Knights have trio of names to know starting with 6’0 freshman guard Jillian Huerter. Heurter could get the start tonight if Smikle does not go. She is averaging just 7.1 points per game, but has made a team-high 31 three-pointers and is shooting 39.7% from behind the arc. Huerter has knocked down 3+ threes in six games, including a 4/7 night en route to a season-high 16 points against Purdue last time out.

Other names to know are 5’9 freshman guard Lisa Thompson and 6’2 center Kassondra Brown. A four-star recruit in the ’23 class, Thompson had an Iowa offer. She has started ten games this season and is averaging 7.5 points per game. Thompson has knocked down ten three-pointers, but has made 32 of her 42 field goals inside the arc. Kassondra Brown is averaging 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, while ranking 7th in the Big Ten with 35 offensive rebounds. She has really stepped up over the last six games, averaging 12.0 points per game. Brown has also shot 22/36 (61.1%) from two-point range over that stretch.

A deeper look at the stats behind the matchup between the Hawkeyes and Scarlet Knights…

THE PICK

Going to Piscataway is never an easy trip. It’s nearly 1,000 miles from Iowa City and most teams stay a 40 minute bus ride away in Newark. The Scarlet Knights kept things close with a top 10 Maryland squad and defeated Nebraska at home last season. This year they already took #14 Indiana to the wire. Despite that, I don’t expect the Hawkeyes to have a whole lot of issues tonight. In their ten losses, Rutgers is scoring just 89.36 pts per 100 possessions and allowing 108.48. Those numbers would ranked 199th and 353rd respectively. Not good. The Scarlet Knights have been able to slow down the pace of games, as their last five contests have averaged just 68.3 possessions per game, but that hasn’t changed the results. Warren Nolan projects Iowa to win 85-58 and I think that’s pretty close. IOWA 87 RUTGERS 60