As culture gets tested, Iowa women’s basketball feels structure for success still intact

IOWA CITY — A program’s culture truly becomes impeccable when it can survive both ends of the emotional spectrum. It’s easy to tout core values during the best of times. Whether they hold up when adversity invades is arguably more significant.

Such is the current test for Iowa women’s basketball as it slogs through a Big Ten skid full of concerning elements. Everything that fueled the Hawkeyes’ recent ascension is under the microscope amid Iowa’s first three-game losing streak in seven years. Sunday’s 74-67 home stumble to Indiana extended several troubling trends.

The “everyone matters” mantra has turned into “no lead dog capable of stabilizing things” when things go awry. The riveting Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowds designed to aid a developing team are generating clunky home starts with mounting pressure to perform. Iowa’s elite offensive standard that goes back well beyond the last two historical seasons isn’t being met in the slightest. In fact, piling up points has been the Hawkeyes’ most glaring issue.

Iowa’s program pillars weren’t constructed overnight, nor are they going to crumble after one tough stretch in mid-January with ample basketball left. But this is clearly a different test than what’s been recently experienced. What has arrived is a bit harsher than what was projected, and it’s on Iowa to weather the storm.

“All three of these losses have been such different losses, and we’re trying to learn a lot from each,” said junior guard Taylor McCabe, one of Sunday’s few bright spots with 15 points off the bench. “Compared to last year, I think this team is so different. I don’t think we ever stop fighting. The Iowa culture is definitely still there. That’s something we’re going to keep building off.

“I still think it’s pretty early on, and we have plenty of season left. So we’re not going to let this affect us too much.”

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Taylor McCabe, Taylor Stremlow gave Iowa a chance in loss to Indiana:

McCabe knocked down four 3-pointers and led the Hawkeyes with 15 points, while Stremlow had seven points, nine rebounds and five steals.

Hawkeyes schedule only gets harder after January

The various reactions from those invested in Iowa women’s basketball depend on what hat is worn. Countless fans offer different degrees of freakout, ranging from justifiable concerns to illogical thoughts of a coaching change and multiple decommits. The Hawkeyes became experts on mitigating outside noise during the Caitlin Clark years. That objective doesn’t change here.

Elsewhere, coach Jan Jensen and her players continue an ongoing stream of positivity that at least carries some legitimacy. Remember, inconsistency was to be expected with an extensive roster reset and a first-year head coach. Assessing January’s reality with the same energy as October’s forecast is understandable to some degree. And the Hawkeyes are correct that more than enough time remains for this stretch to become a distant memory by March.

Somewhere between the extremes is where the Hawkeyes’ urgency should lie. It’s fair to outline the opportunity Iowa has up ahead, while acknowledging these stumbles are happening in what is clearly the Hawkeyes’ easier month of Big Ten action. As of now, February features three top-10 foes and only one game against a team definitely not going to the NCAA Tournament.

January was supposed to be the win-stacking month against squads that looked more like the Hawkeyes, rather than the Big Ten’s elite upper crust. With three toss-up games still remaining this month against Nebraska, Oregon and Washington before a perceived breather versus cellar-dweller Northwestern, it’s hard to envision Iowa’s current product trekking into February with confidence that high-end upsets are coming.

It’s crucial that Iowa’s veterans step up

As much as the Hawkeyes’ freshman injection has provided some promise amid futility, this turnaround starts at the top of the roster. All five starters, four seniors and a junior, have been liabilities for extended stretches in ways not previously seen. Whatever the reason — inability to adjust from the past, reluctance to disrupt Iowa’s traditional fun-loving energy, overwhelming pressure to uphold the Hawkeyes’ recent standard — Sunday’s loss felt like a crossroads as many of those veterans watched Iowa’s closing stretch from the bench.

“I’ve got to get them in better positions where they are a little bit more confident, the vets,” Jensen said. “But I do think the promise of our youth, what they’re doing is really, really hopeful. The old saying is you can wait for a break, or you can create a break. I’d sure love to get a break here or there in this conference season. But I’ve got to keep working to create a break too.”

Things haven’t fully spiraled yet, but the start of a damaging avalanche often looks like this. The historical context only gets uglier the longer these struggles go. A loss to Nebraska on Thursday would mark Iowa’s first four-game losing streak since February 2016 and first time dropping three consecutive home games since February 2013.

Conquering the mental battle is as crucial as anything directly happening on the floor — and there’s plenty to correct there. What direction this season goes will depend on how strong the structure in place is.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.