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Iowa women’s basketball is off to a terrific start to its 2024-25 season. The Hawkeyes are now 4-0 with wins over Northern Illinois (91-73), Virginia Tech (71-52), Toledo (94-57) and Drake (86-73) entering Wednesday night’s contest versus Kansas.
Iowa’s transfer portal addition of senior point guard Lucy Olsen has provided precisely what the Hawkeyes had hoped. Olsen is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game while shooting 50.0% from the field. The 5-foot-10 guard also boasts averages of 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.
Meanwhile, Iowa is watching as senior center Addison O’Grady continues to blossom before everyone’s eyes. O’Grady is currently averaging 16.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game and shooting 73.2%. The 6-foot-4 center led Iowa with 27 points and 10 rebounds in their Sunday road win at Drake.
Iowa wasn’t predicted to finish in the top five of either the coaches or media Big Ten preseason polls, but the Hawkeyes’ start to the season has to have raised a few eyebrows nationally.
It has certainly seen Iowa pick up some steam in ESPN’s latest bracketology projections. Iowa has now climbed to a projected No. 6 seed in Region 4 Spokane.
Interestingly, Iowa is matched up against the winner of two of the last four in. The Hawkeyes would face the winner of No. 11 Vanderbilt and No. 11 Kansas, who Iowa will square off against tonight.
Iowa’s initial trek sends them to Norman, Okla., where the winner of third-seeded Oklahoma and No. 14 UC Irvine would be waiting in the Round of 32 if the Hawkeyes won their projected opening contest.
The Hawkeyes were a No. 7 seed last week and began the season projected as a No. 8 seed.
Below is a look at the full Region 4 Spokane projection. Plus, all of the Big Ten teams that are currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament field along with their seedings.
The Big Ten leads the nation in projected tournament bids with 12.
Region 4 Spokane
No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 16 Tennessee Tech
No. 8 South…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-women-basketball-once-again-215035371.html
Author : Hawkeyes Wire
Publish date : 2024-11-20 21:50:00
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