Sitting at 10-2 (1-0), the Big Ten grind starts now. Head coach Jan Jensen knows her Iowa Hawkeyes are coming off an extremely embarrassing loss, but at the end of the day it was to the No. 1 team in the nation.

Iowa has dropped two of their last three which contributed to them falling to No. 14 in the AP Top 25. They were previously as high as No. 11, but their 74-69 loss to No. 10 Iowa State didn’t help as they tried to enter the Top 10.

With a win over No. 7 Baylor earlier in the year, Iowa knows they have what it takes to get the job done. Now, they just need to take care of business against a Penn State school that is 7-5 (0-1).

ESPN Analytics is on Iowa’s side as the Hawkeyes are given a 96.8% chance to win. Seeing as this game is played at Carver, it certainly helps their chances of getting back on track with an extremely difficult schedule ahead of them.

1. Limit Turnovers

As simple as it sounds, Iowa turned the ball over 26 times against the Huskies. Seeing as this was their most recent game played, even though it was back on December 20, that is a number that continues to be brought up.

Jensen and company were extremely disappointed with their performance, but there’s no reason to lose hope after losing to the Huskies. That was their fourth Top 25 win of the year as they’re one of the most dominant No. 1 seeds in quite some time.

Now, Iowa just has to recover. They are about to enter the gauntlet that is their B1G schedule and they can’t let a pair of losses get to them. AP voters kept them ranked for a reason, and on paper, Iowa should have no issues taking control of this game against the Nittany Lions.

2. Get Everybody Involved

Iowa is at their best when everyone is contributing. No matter how good Ava Heiden or Hannah Stuelke are, this is still a team game. Neither are ball-hogs, far from it, but the Hawkeyes seem to put together complete performances when four or more girls end the game with double digits.

So far this season, Heiden has struggled against top opponents. She’s only a sophomore, so it isn’t too alarming to see her minutes dip significantly against Iowa State and UConn. That said, it would sure be nice to see her lead the way against PSU and drop 20+ for the third time this season.

Don’t forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Kansas is reflecting national trends of respiratory virus cases on the rise.

The CDC’s latest influenza surveillance report, for the week ending December 13th, showed three states with very high influenza activity, including Colorado. Kansas was reported as having low activity.

However, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment data shows even low activity has had an impact. For the 20025-2026 season, through Dec. 22, KDHE shows influenza, pneumonia and COVID, combined, have been the direct or contributing cause in 401 deaths.

KDHE also launched a wastewater monitoring dashboard this season. It reflects data from Shawnee, Reno and Johnson counties for influenza, COVID and RSV. It shows influenza levels moderate and increasing, and COVID levels low but increasing.

The CDC estimates the U.S. has had close to five million influenza cases nationwide this season and nearly 2,000 deaths, including at least three children.

The situation has doctors reminding you to get your annual influenza vaccination if you haven’t already. Many urgent care centers, local pharmacies and your doctor’s offices have it available.

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