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Iowa women's basketball vs. Michigan: 3 keys to victory
It's almost time. The biggest remaining game on the Iowa women's basketball team's schedule is nearly here.
On Sunday morning, thousands of Iowa fans will flock to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to see their 12th-ranked Hawkeyes take on No. 5 Michigan. There's so much on the line in this game for both teams, as this contest could decide crucial seeding for both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
Entering Sunday, Iowa is a game back of Michigan for second place in the Big Ten standings. The Haweyes are 12-3 in conference play, while the Wolverines are 13-2. An Iowa victory would bring them even with Michigan and give them a critical tiebreaker. A Michigan victory would put them two games ahead of Iowa with just a pair of games left in the regular season, all but securing a second-place finish.
With so much on the line, a sold-out crowd ready to explode, and a nationally televised matinee broadcast, this game is shaping up to be an all-timer. Here's what Iowa needs to do to come out on top:
Take care of the basketball
Michigan is the best team in the Big Ten at turning over its opponents. They force an astounding 22.7 turnovers per game, which includes nearly 12 steals per game. Forcing all those turnovers allows the Wolverines to get out in transition and pick up easy buckets. Those points can make all the difference in what figures to be a close game on Sunday.
Iowa needs to make sure they take care of the basketball. They average 15.1 turnovers per game this season, a mark in the middle of the conference. If the Hawkeyes commit fewer than 15 turnovers on Sunday, they should like their odds. But if the turnovers start to mount, this one could get out of hand. It may sound very simple, but the turnover numbers could easily decide this game.
Force Michigan to beat you from three
Michigan is an extremely well-rounded team with very few weaknesses. But, one of the things they don't do as well as most teams is shoot the three. This season, the Wolverines are the fifth-worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, making 33.1% of their shots from behind the arc. In their four losses this season, Michigan shot a combined 26-of-87 (29.8%) from three.
The Hawkeyes need to force Michigan to win this game from beyond the arc. They're one of the best teams in the conference in the paint, which is where their game thrives. Iowa's goal should be to defend the paint and force kick outs. If Michigan hits a bunch of threes to win, you tip your cap. But, if this season is any indication, there's a decent chance that won't be the case.
Depth must show up
The Hawkeyes' depth has been tested this season, especially with Taylor McCabe's season-ending injury. In some games, the depth has been great. In others, they've been nonexistent. Sunday's game really needs to be one of those games where the entire roster shows up to play. Michigan is going to key in on Ava Heiden and Hannah Stuelke—assuming she plays—which will put a lot of pressure on Iowa's depth.
Taylor Stremlow will need to continue her recent breakout, as hitting some of the open looks from beyond the arc will force the defense to be more honest. Journey Houston has been fantastic as of late, and will be called upon to provide a spark off the bench.
And this would be a great game for five-star freshman Addie Deal to find a rhythm that she's been lacking lately. It'll be all hands on deck for Jan Jensen's team in this one if they want to walk out of Carver with a win.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women's basketball vs. Michigan: 3 keys to victory
Jordan Stolz boxed in by competitors' tactics in mass start, doesn't get medal
MILAN — Keeping Jordan Stolz from getting another medal seemed to be more important for his competitors than winning one of their own.
Stolz finished fourth in the mass start Saturday, Feb. 21, after several of the top medal contenders refused to chase down an early breakaway. It all but assured Stolz would not be on the podium for the fourth time in as many races at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
"I actually didn't expect this to happen, just because I felt like the gold-medal favorites in the mass start were going to be more hungry to try and get a medal," said Stolz, who leaves these Olympics with two golds and a silver. "But they all were just kind of expecting me to go for it and, yeah, it didn't really work."
Stolz was not as heavy a medal favorite in the mass starts as he was in the sprints, though he did make the World Cup podium twice this season, including a win in Hamar, Norway.
The mass start is a 16-lap pack race similar to cycling's Tour de France. The goal is for skaters to position themselves so they can make a furious sprint on the final lap, chasing down early breakaways so no one gets out too far ahead.
It helps to have a teammate in the race who can do some of that work so the person with the better medal chances can conserve their energy. But Stolz was at a disadvantage from the beginning after Ethan Cepuran barely missed out on the final.
(Greta Myers played this role in the women's mass start, and it was decisive in Mia Manganello winning the bronze medal.)
Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands was one of the favorites for gold, having won the mass start season title. He made a break in the third lap, and Denmark's Viktor Hald Thorup went with him. But none of the other contenders gave chase, which meant Stolz couldn't, either.
If he'd tried to go too early, he'd have expended precious energy catching Bergsma and Thorup and risked not having any left for the final sprint. The pack likely would have followed him, too, meaning all his work would have been for nothing.
"If I'd have known that, that they would have been reluctant to chase even when none of the guys have a medal (here), I probably would've attacked a little bit more," Stolz said. "But if I would've done that, they still would've just followed me and I would've just canceled out."
Had Cepuran been in the race, he could have chased Bergsma and Thorup down. But he wasn't. Instead, Stolz kept looking back at the pack, which included Italy's Andrea Giovannini and Czechia's Metoděj Jílek, both of whom had World Cup wins this season, and Beijing Olympic champion Bart Swings of Belgium, as if to ask if anyone was going to go.
But they sat tucked in behind him as the laps dwindled. Swings' teammate Indra Medard did make a move after the halfway point of the race, but it wasn't enough to bring along the rest of the pack.
"If they're all sitting behind me at four laps to go and I'm not building the pace and the two guys in front just keep getting further and further ahead, that's clear to me that they were kind of settling for third," Stolz said.
Stolz started sprinting with about a lap and a half to go and Giovannini quickly gave chase. The two were almost even as they came down the final straightaway before Giovannini dove over the finish just ahead of Stolz.
Stolz finished 0.09 seconds behind Giovannini.
"I was the only one from Italy, so I knew it wasn't easy to control the race," Giovannini said. "So that's it, we stayed in the group and went for the final sprint."
Despite the way the mass start unfolded, Stolz is hardly disappointed with how these Games went. The 21-year-old set Olympic records on his way to winning both the 500 meters and 1,000 meters, and also won silver in the 1,500 meters.
His three medals are the most by any U.S. Winter Olympian at a single Games since fellow speedskater Chad Hedrick also won three in Turin in 2006.
And now he has a valuable lesson for next time.
"There's planning that I could have done a little bit better," Stolz said, referring to imagining a scenario like this in the mass start. "But overall I think it was successful."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jordan Stolz left to fend for himself in mass start, misses Olympic podium