Huskers Close Regular Season at Iowa

Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-10, 9-9 Big Ten)

at Iowa Hawkeyes (14-8, 10-8 Big Ten)

March 6, 2021, 7 p.m. (CT)

Carver-Hawkeye Arena – Iowa City, Iowa

Live Video: B1G Network+ 
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (6:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (1400 AM KLIN), Omaha (CD 105.9 FM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Huskers Shoot for 10th Big Ten Win at Iowa

The Nebraska women’s basketball team closes the 2021 Big Ten regular-season schedule by traveling to Iowa on Saturday. Tip-off between the Huskers (11-10, 9-9 Big Ten) and the Hawkeyes (14-8, 10-8 Big Ten) is set for 7 p.m. (CT) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

A live video stream will be provided to BTN Plus subscribers, while fans can also follow Nebraska with the Husker Sports Network call of Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch across the radio network stations, the Huskers App and Huskers.com.

Nebraska shoots for its 10th Big Ten win of the season on Saturday, a week after having its Senior Day (Feb. 27) home game against Michigan State called off less than an hour before tip. The Huskers (9-9) and Spartans (7-7) head into Saturday’s scheduled games tied for seventh in the Big Ten standings. While Nebraska closes the season on the road at Iowa, MSU is scheduled to close at home against Wisconsin at 1 p.m. (CT).

The Huskers are led by first-team All-Big Ten contender Sam Haiby, who is the only player in the Big Ten to rank among the top 12 in the conference in scoring (17.1 ppg, 11th), rebounding (6.9 rpg, 12th) and assists (4.5 apg, 8th). The 5-9 junior from Moorhead, Minn., owns eight 20-point efforts on the season, including 28 points in an 88-81 loss to the Hawkeyes (Feb. 11). 

Big Ten All-Defensive candidate Kate Cain leads the Big Ten as one of the best shot-blockers in conference history. The 6-5 Cain ranks No. 6 in Big Ten history and holds the Nebraska record with 344 career blocks.  The No. 2 active NCAA Division I player in blocks, Cain is also just the 10th Husker in history to achieve the combined career milestones of 1,000 points and 750 rebounds. Cain was one of 15 players on the Naismith National Defensive Player-of-the-Year Watch List.

Isabelle Bourne has had a strong sophomore season despite missing four games with an ankle injury. Bourne ranks fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and 25th in scoring (13.9 ppg) while adding 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks. She was named the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week and the Big Ten Player of the Week (Feb. 22). She had 16 points and five boards against Iowa.

Redshirt sophomore Ashley Scoggin was named a semifinalist for the NCAA Division I Junior College Transfer of the Year award by World Exposure Report. Fans can vote for the award at worldexposurereport.com.

Scouting The Iowa Hawkeyes

• Iowa heads into the regular-season finale with a 14-8 overall record that includes a 10-8 Big Ten mark. A win for Iowa would lock in the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the Hawkeyes. A loss for Iowa and a win by Michigan State against Wisconsin would drop the Hawkeyes into a tie for eighth with the Huskers in the final Big Ten regular-season standings, but would still give them the No. 7 seed at the conference tournament.

• Iowa is 4-2 over its last six games, starting with its 88-81 win at Nebraska (Feb. 11). Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 39 points while adding 10 rebounds and nine assists in the first meeting with the Huskers. She hit 12-of-18 shots, including 6-of-10 three-pointers, while going 9-for-9 at the free throw line to seal the win. It was third of five straight 30-point games for Clark, ending with 34 points in a lopsided loss to Maryland (Feb. 23).

• Clark leads the Big Ten in scoring (27.1 ppg), assists (7.0 apg) and three-pointers made (87).

• Iowa’s only losses in the last six games have come to the Big Ten’s top two teams – Maryland and Indiana. The Hawkeyes are coming off an 89-80 loss to the Hoosiers in Bloomington on Wednesday. Clark had 32 points and five assists in the loss at Indiana. 

• Clark had not missed a free throw since Feb. 7 (2-3 FT vs. Indiana) until going 5-for-6 in Wednesday’s loss. Over the last 10 games, Clark is 42-of-44 (.955) at the free throw line.

• Monika Czinano, a 6-3 forward/center ranks second among the Hawkeyes and fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.5 points per game, while adding 5.8 rebounds. Czinano leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.668). Czinano had 17 points in the first meeting at Nebraska.

• Iowa features a third double-digit scorer in sophomore McKenna Warnock. The 6-1 guard/forward is averaging 12.3 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game. Warnock is a knock-down shooter who has hit 45.8 percent (38-83) of her threes, including 4-of-8 to finish with 19 points in the first meeting with the Huskers.

• Sophomore Gabbie Marshall gives Iowa another knock-down shooter, hitting 36-of-79 threes (.456). The 5-9 Marshall is the only Hawkeye starter listed under 6-feet tall. She is averaging 8.4 points per game, while leading the Hawkeyes with 41 steals (1.9 spg). Marshall went 2-for-3 from long range to finish with six points against the Huskers (Feb. 11).

• Redshirt sophomore Kate Martin rounds out Iowa’s probable starting five with 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. A scrappy, hard-nosed competitor, Martin has hit 23-of-56 threes (.411) on the season and better than 80 percent (17-21) of her free throws. She ranks second among the Hawkeyes in assists (84) and steals (28).

• Iowa features capable bench players in junior Tomi Taiwo (4.6 ppg), sophomore Megan Meyer (2.9 ppg), freshmen Sharon Goodman (4.0 ppg) and Lauren Jensen (1.4 ppg) along with junior Logan Cook (2.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg) and seniors Alexis Sevillian and Zion Sanders. 

• Iowa owns the No. 2 offense in the Big Ten (87.6 ppg), but the Hawkeye defense ranks 14th in the league, allowing 81.3 points per game. Iowa leads the Big Ten in field goal (.518) and three-point field goal percentage (.416) while ranking second in free throw percentage (.786). Iowa ranks 13th in the Big Ten in opponent field goal percentage (.447). Iowa owns a plus-0.7 team rebound margin and a minus-1.5 team turnover margin. 

• Over the past eight games (4-4), Iowa is averaging 86.1 points while allowing 84.1 points per game. The Hawkeyes are 3-8 against teams that have been ranked at any point in the AP Top 25 this season.

Nebraska vs. Iowa Series History

• Iowa leads the all-time series with Nebraska 16-15 after an 88-81 win by the Hawkeyes at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Feb. 11). The Huskers defeated Iowa 78-69 last season (Dec. 28, 2019) in Lincoln, before Iowa salvaged a season split with a 76-60 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Feb. 6, 2020).

• Monika Czinano led Iowa with 23 points and eight rebounds in last season’s win over the Huskers in Iowa City.

• The Huskers are 11-9 against the Hawkeyes as Big Ten foes since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12. NU won the first eight meetings as Big Ten opponents capped off by a 72-65 win over the Hawkeyes in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

• Iowa won the next five meetings and is 4-3 over the past seven contests.

• The Huskers are 6-7 all-time against Iowa in Lincoln, dating back to a 67-66 win over the Hawkeyes at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Dec. 22, 1979.

• The Huskers are 4-7 all-time against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. 

• Nebraska is 5-2 all-time against Iowa on neutral courts dating back to the first meeting in the series, a 71-63 Husker win at the Jennies’ Classic in Warrensburg, Mo., on Jan. 13, 1978.