Iowa Hawkeyes at Connecticut Huskies
HARTFORD (Interstat) — Iowa will visit Connecticut on Sunday for a women’s NCAA Division I basketball game at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Hawkeyes enter with a 2-0 record, while the Huskies are 1-1. The Hawkeyes will be the visiting team, and the Huskies will be the home team.
Iowa has opened the season with wins over Towson and Eastern Illinois. In its most recent game, Iowa defeated Eastern Illinois 80-39. McKenna Woliczko, a forward, scored 22 points and added four rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes. Ava Heiden, a center, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 22 minutes. Amari Whiting, a guard, added four points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 25 minutes. Iowa has scored 80 points and 73 points in its two wins, while allowing 39 and 45.
Heiden is a player to watch for Iowa. She had 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 22 minutes against Eastern Illinois. She also finished with seven points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes against Towson. Iowa’s other previous result this season was a 73-45 win over Towson.
Connecticut is coming off a 77-66 loss at Michigan after a 100-35 home win over Cornell. Jovana Popovic, a guard, is a player to watch for the Huskies. She scored 25 points and added seven rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes at Michigan. She had 19 points, three rebounds and one assist in 22 minutes against Cornell. Sarah Strong, a forward, added 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists against Michigan, and Olivia Vukosa, a center, had eight points and five rebounds. Connecticut has scored 100 points and 66 points in its two games, while allowing 35 and 77.
Iowa’s upcoming schedule includes a home game against Northern Iowa, a matchup with Vanderbilt in Sioux City, Iowa, home games against Montana State, Utah, Navy, Nebraska, Iowa State, Southern and Northern Illinois, and a road game at Drake. Iowa’s next game after Sunday is against Northern Iowa at home. Connecticut’s upcoming schedule includes road games at Ohio State, Louisville, Duke in Boston and Notre Dame, along with home games against Seton Hall, South Carolina in Uncasville, Conn., UNLV, Tennessee and Creighton, plus a game against Maryland in Brooklyn, N.Y. Connecticut’s next game after Sunday is at Ohio State.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Connecticut 78, Iowa 66. Interstat’s ELO system gives Connecticut a 92.4 percent probability to win, and Connecticut has been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -10.5.