Iowa women’s basketball: 3 things to watch as Hawkeyes face Kansas in Sioux Falls

IOWA CITY — The miles are piling up early and so are the growth opportunities for Iowa women’s basketball.

For already the third time this season, Jan Jensen’s Hawkeyes will venture away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena for an intriguing non-conference affair. Iowa (4-0) will take its perfect mark to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., for Wednesday’s 6 p.m. matchup against Kansas (4-0). The Hawkeyes have won 19 of their last 22 neutral-site games.

This South Dakota showdown is loaded with storylines as these Hawkeyes continue growing together in this young season. Here are three things to watch ahead of Wednesday’s matchup.

Can Iowa take advantage of Kansas’ lack of road experience?

Iowa’s non-conference schedule is the perfect blend of interesting but not overwhelming matchups that can be productive in numerous ways.

The Hawkeyes have already conquered two key ones with wins against Virginia Tech in Charlotte and at Drake on Sunday. Those games away from home should have Iowa ready to handle the quirkiness Sanford Pentagon presents.

Conversely, Wednesday will be the Jayhawks’ first game away from Allen Fieldhouse this season following double-digit home wins over Lindenwood (56-43), Sam Houston (66-51), Omaha (75-56) and North Alabama (81-64). Those victories look good on paper but haven’t offered much adversity to hurdle.

Successfully conquering the first road trip is always an early-season objective, no matter what the roster looks like. Having long cleared that benchmark already, Iowa hopes to catch Kansas off-guard in that regard.

Taylor McCabe believes confidence is growing by the game for Iowa women’s basketball

Taylor McCabe believes confidence is growing by the game for Iowa women’s basketball

Will the Hawkeyes keep their early defensive success going against a versatile Kansas lineup?

Even with Drake guard Katie Dinnebier popping off for 40 points Sunday, the Hawkeyes still delivered a better defensive effort than usual in the Knapp Center. Iowa’s 86-73 win was the fewest points yielded at Drake since 2012.

Now comes the challenge of spinning the defensive confidence forward versus an entirely different look. The versatility of North Dakota State transfer Elle Evans and freshman Reagan Williams, in particular, will put players like Hannah Stuelke and Teagan Mallegni in different defensive spots

“(Kansas’) ‘4s’ are like ‘2s’ and ‘3s’. And (Hannah and Teagan) haven’t guarded that yet,” Jensen said. “We guarded small ball (against Drake). … But this particular ‘4’ matchup, they put it on the floor a little bit more with ease. Kansas’ ‘4’ players play a little bit more like small forwards, and so that’s going to be a whole different matchup than what we’ve had.

“So I’ll be interested to see how we answer that.”

Sydney Affolter previews Iowa women’s basketball vs. Kansas

Sydney Affolter previews Iowa women’s basketball vs. Kansas

Which player delivers the next eye-popping moment during Iowa’s pivotal early-season stretch?

The foundations for lengthy postseason surges are often set in the non-conference, and Iowa has productively used the season’s first two weeks to get multiple players pointed in the right direction.

Addi O’Grady has delivered a huge jolt with four double-digit scoring performances that twice set new career-highs. Sydney Affolter wrapped up her knee recovery and is back in her starting spot. Taylor McCabe shifted back to the bench and immediately responded with seven treys in her last two games. Teagan Mallegni has two double-digit showings in her first four games. So who’s next?

While her start has certainly been above average, is Wednesday the first “go off” game for Lucy Olsen in black and gold? After a rare game without a field goal, does Affolter have a gaudy offensive stat line waiting in the wings? How do Taylor Stremlow and Ava Heiden respond to limited action on Sunday?

Any of these high-end non-conference matchups has a chance to be the next sterling effort Iowa leans on to push this team forward.

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.