NOTE: This was started yesterday, but my dang job got in the way. Who knew that teachers need to be in the classrooms, and on time even?? 🙂

Yesterday sucked (and today did too).

A lot.

#why

You really want to know? Ok, the Iowa Women’s Basketball Team lost in double overtime to a Virginia team that simply outplayed them.

As a #2 seed (that’s pretty good for those who don’t know).

They played a game on Saturday, where they were pushed, almost to the breaking point, but in a game of runs, they were the team that finished the run to win the game. But they missed free throws. They were 1 of 13 shooting three pointers.

That spells trouble.

Yesterday, those troubles finally caught up with them. They shot 5 for 29 from the three-point line (17%) and 8 of 16 from the free-throw line (50%). These two stats alone will hurt teams, especially one that thrives on those 3-pointers. There’s percentage over the two game stretch was a little over 14%, from a team whose season average was 36%

#ouch

They played at home, Carver Hawkeye Arena, and the crowd was electric! Decibel levels matching a jet plane take off on several occasions, and while we were able to win this time on Saturday, we could not Monday.

My thoughts about this time:

First and foremost, I’m just a junior high girls basketball coach who likes to think he knows basketball. There are SO many others out there who know more than I do! 🙂

  1. I’ll miss these seniors. While their play will always be remembered, it’s the type of people they are: hard-working, unselfish, giving almost to a fault that people will remember more. The videos of Hannah, tears in her eyes, signing autographs after the loss yesterday and Kylie breaking down as she tried to describe her time here at Iowa, damn. They are this team. They helped to continue the Iowa culture growth that hopefully recruits look at when deciding which school is the best fit.
  2. I guartenee you that this team did not think, “Hey, this weekend sounds like a great time to shoot 3s and free throws poorly enough to lose us this game.” Has this been an issue? Of course it has. Did it come back to bite this team at the worst possible moment? It most certainly did. Can those issues be fixed in the offseason? They darn well better be.
  3. You have a core of this team that, if NIL doesn’t rear it’s ugly head, will be really, really good next year. Starting three sophomores is huge. and the addition of Woliczko as a stretch 4, plus the development of Deal and Hayes in the offseason will give Iowa an excellent core. Both Addie and Layla showed glimses, but seemed overwhelmed by the moment in the NCAA games. There will have to be some portal help, along with Jan and the staff realizing that the “dump it to the post and see what happens” kind of offense cannot be it.
  4. This team overachieved big time. Iowa had won 27 games and lost 6 up until yesterday. This year has been a dream. They were picked no higher than 5th in the Big Ten Conference and most thought 20 wins was a reach. As it turns out, they were second in the Big 10, the toughest conference in the country. (I just found this) Their winning percentage is second only the CC’s senior year, and is tops in the last 29 years. While they are not a UConn/South Carolina/UCLA style of team, they were really, really good. In the conference tournament, they made the championship game, only to be soundly beaten by a UCLA team that should challenge for the national championship.
  5. To say this season as a failure or that Jan needs to be let go is assinine at best. For the most part, Jan had this team ready to play, outside of the Big 10 Championship game. They search for an identity when Taylor McCabe when down, but seemed to have found it in later half of the season. Again, they are not an elite team, but they earned that #2 by winning out and getting to the Big 10 Championship Game. Someone out there wrote that this loss to Virgina was “a lesson”, and I certainly believe this one. They need to take this ugly feeling in their stomach and use it for good. Dig into to the things they need to get better at and realize, that ALL lessons can be vaulable, even the ones that hurt us.

All in all, I loved watching this team. From Jada’s bench hype to Taylor McCabe’s 3s, from Hannah’s rim running to Taylor Stremlow’s emotions on the floor. All of it. We had family in Iowa City for many years and would walk up and buy tickets at the office for games. We’d also bring our junior high basketball teams down to watch games. All of that is long gone now (family moved and I’m in a different position), but our love of Iowa Women’s Basketball has remainded the same. To see March basketball in Carver is a big deal! 🙂

I cannot wait to see what this team look like next year and how hungry they are to prove the naysayers wrong, yet again.

And as always – Go Hawks!