IOWA CITY — Following an uncharacteristic run of home struggles, the Big Ten schedule now takes Iowa women’s basketball as far away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena as possible in the league.

The Hawkeyes (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten Conference) are set to begin their first West Coast conference swing, beginning with Sunday’s 4 p.m. game at Oregon (13-5, 4-3) on BTN+. Iowa will then head to Washington next Wednesday for an 8 p.m. showdown. The Hawkeyes are desperately trying to end a four-game losing streak that suddenly has them flirting with the NCAA Tournament bubble.

With that, here are three things to watch ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

More: Leistikow: How much patience should Jan Jensen get during Iowa women’s basketball slump?

Can the Hawkeyes productively channel their desperation?

Everyone inside the program understands the current situation and how it needs to change. But the Hawkeyes can’t let that pressure generate more tight play on the court, an ongoing theme throughout this four-game losing streak.

“We really are just one or two possessions away,” assistant coach Sean Sullivan said Friday. “With a team like this who’s continuing to fight, we just need one win. We just need one to get going because these kids really do believe.

“Everyone knows their role. Everyone is supporting each other, and that’s the best thing you can do at this time during a four-game losing streak. We’re not going down that black hole. We see the light. We’ve just got to get there.”

Until revealed otherwise, expect another tense affair with plenty of late-game opportunities for Iowa to find a better conclusion. The Hawkeyes need to bring this one home.

More: Iowa women’s basketball: Hawkeyes’ losing streak continues with OT loss to Nebraska

How does Iowa handle Oregon’s full-court pressure while potentially leaning more on its own press?

Iowa had some trouble in December with pressing teams, most notably Tennessee and Michigan State, that resulted in heavy turnovers and late struggles. On the flipside, the Hawkeyes have implemented their own press, just sporadically, mainly in moments of desperation.

Iowa leaned on more pressure in Thursday’s loss to Nebraska with some success. Could Sunday be a moment to match the Ducks’ energy there?

“Oregon is going to be pretty intense with ball pressure. That’s not what we do, but we’re slowly doing a little bit more of a press,” Sullivan said “First we did a press break of some type of 2-2-1. Now we’re like, ‘OK, let’s change it up a bit. What do our players feel comfortable with?’ (Thursday) night, we had a lot of success. We’re starting to see what they’re good at.

“Now, we’ve just got to have fun with it. Let’s start doing some random things because when you do something consistently, it’s easy to scout. But when you start changing things up, Nebraska didn’t handle our pressure well. And that builds us confidence. So I think for the future, you’ll definitely start to see some more stuff.”

More: Iowa women’s basketball vs. Nebraska recap: Free throw woes doom Hawkeyes in overtime loss

What does Iowa have in store for Ava Heiden in her Oregon homecoming?

Even as far back as media day, Ava Heiden’s excitement for the Oregon trip was apparent. Her hometown of Sherwood, Oregon, sits about 100 miles north of the Ducks’ campus, so expect a strong cheer for Heiden when Iowa takes the floor Sunday.

“Ava is so athletic,” Sullivan said. “She can jump out of the building. She can get rebounds. And that’s what we’ve got to start figuring out. How can we utilize her a little bit more too?

Heiden’s minutes have been up and down this year, more down lately as Hannah Stuelke has shifted back to the “5” position for more consistency. Heiden didn’t play against Nebraska but could certainly see more usage Sunday.

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.

The Oregon Department of Transportation recently learned it will receive a $33 million grant from the federal government to build a wildlife crossing overpass on I-5 in Southern Oregon.

It will be the first overcrossing built to reduce wildlife and vehicle collisions along I-5, which spans nearly 1,400 miles from the Washington-Canada border to the California-Mexico border.

ODOT, which is providing nearly $4 million in matching funds for the project, removes about 6,000 deer carcasses struck by motorists each year in Oregon.

Wildlife corridors can not only prevent fatalities but also save motorists thousands of dollars in vehicle repairs – on average, $9,000 for a collision with a deer and $24,000 for elk, according to the agency.

Karen Mager, an associate professor of environmental science, policy, and sustainability at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, has led a team of undergraduate students to set up camera traps and collect more than a million videos and photos of the diverse wildlife that live along the I-5 corridor south of Ashland, in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

“We have mountain lions, coyotes, bears, bobcats, Pacific fishers. We’re at the northern edge of the ringtail, which is this really cool kind of raccoon relative, and so we have a lot of diversity here,” she said.

The images Mager and her students captured were critical to identifying the future location of the overpass within the Mariposa Preserve of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, less than two miles from the California border.

The crossing will essentially be a wide bridge arching above the north and southbound lanes of the freeway, designed with natural features such as native vegetation and high walls to dampen the roar from traffic passing below while keeping animals safe.

“The bridge itself is actually going to be connected to a couple miles of fencing to the north and to the south that help funnel animals towards the wildlife crossing. …. It’s got these jump outs on it so that if an animal accidentally ends up in the freeway, they can easily jump out to the safe side of the fence, but animals on the safe side of the fence won’t be able to easily get into the highway,” Mager said.

Construction of the wildlife crossing is expected to begin in early 2028.

“The overpass will be kind of an amazing, beautiful ‘Welcome to Oregon’ statement as you drive in from California, and it’s going to have artwork on it,” Mager said.

Karen Mager spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Click play to listen to the full conversation:

EUGENE — By far Oregon’s biggest remaining home game this season, a top 20 clash with two-time reigning Big Ten champion Purdue carries significant stakes.

The No. 13 Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) are ahead of the No. 17 Boilermakers in the polls, but behind them in the conference standings and NET entering Saturday’s game (12 p.m., NBC) at Matthew Knight Arena.

Both teams could use the Quadrant 1 win to improve their respective resumes come Selection Sunday, with Purdue (14-4, 6-1) arguably in bigger need of the road victory with all of its losses coming away from home. But as jockeying at the top of the Big Ten intensifies these are the matchups that will go a long way to determining the top four seeds in the conference tournament, which all receive double byes.