No. 10 Iowa women beat Eastern Illinois 80-39 on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and McKenna Woliczko was the difference from the start. She scored 22 points, hit four 3-pointers and gave Iowa another strong offensive night just two games into the season.
The result gave the Hawkeyes a second straight double-figure win after Tuesday's 73-45 victory over Towson, and Woliczko has scored in double figures in both games. Against Eastern Illinois, she finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Ava Heiden added 15 points and Dani Carnegie had 12 as Iowa kept the pressure on the Panthers.
Iowa's numbers were hard to miss. The Hawkeyes assisted on 22 of their 31 baskets and forced 27 turnovers, a sign of a team that is turning defense into quick offense and creating cleaner looks than it did in the opener. The game was over early, too: Iowa led 17-10 after one quarter, then outscored Eastern Illinois 27-8 in the second to take a 44-18 halftime lead.
Even with the margin at 41 points, Jan Jensen made it clear the performance was not the standard she wants. She said Iowa is not nearly where it needs to be to be long-term successful, and that message matters because Sunday brings a far more severe test: No. 2 Connecticut in Storrs. Connecticut lost to No. 5 Michigan 77-66 on Thursday in Ann Arbor, but it already beat Iowa 90-64 last December in Brooklyn, when it piled up 13 3-pointers and Iowa committed 26 turnovers.
That makes the next game more than just another date on the schedule. Iowa has 48 hours to sharpen the details that matter most against an opponent that exposed those flaws before, and Woliczko's early-season scoring run gives Iowa something real to carry with it if the Hawkeyes can protect the ball and keep the pace where they want it.
