Iowa Women's Basketball to host Bowling Green on December 2nd
We are getting closer and closer to filling out the Iowa Women’s Basketball non-conference schedule for the upcoming season. D1 WBB Schedules reported that the Hawkeyes will host the Bowling Green Falcons on December 2nd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Public records obtained by D1 WBB Schedules say that Iowa will be giving BGSU a $35,000 guarantee for making the trip from Ohio. It will be the first all-time meeting between the Hawkeyes and the Falcons. Iowa is 10-2 all-time against the MAC conference.
The Falcons finished with a 31-7 record last season, including a 14-4 mark in MAC play. They advanced to the MAC Tournament Championship, but fell to Toledo and earned a bid to the WNIT. In the WNIT, they defeated Liberty, Green Bay, Memphis and Florida en route to the semifinal round, where they fell to eventual runner-up Columbia. BGSU is 18-43 all-time against Big Ten opponents.
The Falcons lose four of their top five scorers from last season, but return guard Morgan Sharps, who averaged 10.4 points and 3.0 three-pointers per game. Lexi Fleming (9.0 ppg, 4.0 reb) and Amy Velasco (6.4 ppg, 2.9 ast) both return as well.
They will be breaking in new head coach Fred Chmiel, after former coach Robyn Fralick opted to take over as head coach at Michigan State. Chmiel spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach on Dawn Staley’s staff at South Carolina.
The Iowa women’s team returns three starters, including National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark, who averaged 27.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists for a Hawkeye squad that advanced to the National Championship game. They also return starting guards Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, as well as Big Ten Sixth Player of they Year Hannah Stuelke.
Filling out the rest of the non-conference slate
Iowa has now filled 11 of their 12 available non-conference spots, while games against Iowa State and Drake still to be confirmed with a date. If things stay per the norm, the CyHawk game in Ames will take place on December 6th, a day before the men’s game.
The Drake game could slot in between Kansas State and the Hawkeyes trip to the Gulf Coast Showcase. If the Hawkeyes opt to schedule a 12th non-conference game, it would likely come right before the Christmas break, where they played Dartmouth on December 21st last season.
2023-24 Non-Conference Schedule
Nov 6: vs Fairleigh Dickinson
Nov 9: vs Virginia Tech (Charlotte, NC) (Ally Tipoff)
Nov 12: at Northern Iowa
Nov 16: vs Kansas State
Nov 24-26: Gulf Coast Showcase (Estero, FL)
Iowa, North Carolina, Kansas State and five teams still TBA.
Dec 2: vs Bowling Green
Dec 16: vs Cleveland State (Des Moines, IA)
No date set: at Iowa State, vs Drake, one game TBD
