The Athletic breaks down strengths, question marks for 2023-24 Iowa women’s basketball
It’s just about go time on another Iowa women’s basketball season.
After a memorable march to the national championship game, Caitlin Clark is back alongside fellow starters Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall.
Clark made all sorts of history in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, recording all-time single-tournament bests with her 191 points and 60 assists across the six-game journey. She also became the first women’s player to tally back-to-back 40-point performances in women’s tournament history.
That included a 41-point triple-double in the Elite Eight win over Louisville and another 41-point outburst in a Final Four upset of previously unbeaten and then-No. 1 South Carolina.
Martin and Marshall’s returns help form a reliable nucleus of starters that have started a combined 298 games across the past three seasons. That duo averaged a combined 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
Of course, longtime starters Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock have moved on, and that leaves the Hawkeyes with some questions to be answered.
As The Athletic unveiled its preseason top 25 rankings, the Iowa Hawkeyes come in at No. 6 nationally to start the season. The top five features defending champion LSU at No. 1, UConn at No. 2, UCLA at No. 3, South Carolina at No. 4 and Utah at No. 5. After Iowa, the rest of the top 10 features No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Indiana and No. 10 Texas.
Along with their preseason rankings, Chantel Jennings and Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic also broke down strengths and weaknesses for everyone in the top 25. Here’s what they had to say about the Hawkeyes.
Strength: Caitlin Clark's Scoring
It’s a no-brainer. Iowa has the best player in the country in Caitlin Clark, and the first strength The Athletic highlighted was her scoring ability. She averaged an incredible 27.8 points, 8.6 assists, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 47.3% from the field and 38.9% from 3-point range last season.
As a result, Clark was the clear and obvious consensus national player of the year. Her 3-point shooting is a game-changer against anybody in America, evidenced by her record eight made 3-pointers in last year’s championship game.
But, she can also attack the basket and get to the free throw line if need be. Clark scores at all levels and is the ultimate offensive weapon.
Question Mark: Paint Play
The Athletic pointed out paint play as one of the question marks for Iowa. It makes sense. The loss of Monika Czinano can’t be overlooked.
The 6-foot-3 center from Watertown, Minn., averaged 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on 67.4% shooting. She was also incredibly reliable at the free throw line, connecting on 79.4% of her charity stripe offerings.
Iowa has seen promise from sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke and junior center Addison O’Grady. Stuelke looks primed for a big second-season jump after averaging 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.9 minutes of average floor time. O’Grady averaged just 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, but the minutes and production she provided in the Final Four was encouraging heading into this season.
Strength: Perimeter Shooting
The other team strength that The Athletic pointed out was Iowa’s perimeter shooting. In addition to what Clark brings to the table, both Martin and Marshall are effective floor-spacers with their shooting. Martin connected on 41.4% of her 3-point tries, while Marshall shot 37.9% from three last season.
Question Mark: Scorers Outside Clark
To use the superhero analogy, Batman lost her Robin. That was the type of rapport and connection Clark had with Czinano.
Now, both Martin and Marshall return and there’s reason to be optimistic about that trio for the Hawkeyes. Still, someone needs to be a consistent double-figure scoring threat to go along with Clark.
Can both Martin and Marshall up their scoring loads? What about Stuelke? Not that she can just outright replace Czinano, but it’s time and to be expected that she’ll start shouldering a starring production load.
Probably a combination of all of that needs to happen in order to help take some of the pressure off Clark.
Question Mark: Depth
Depth was actually one of the Hawkeyes’ issues a season ago and The Athletic highlighted it here. After the starting five, there was Stuelke and guard Molly Davis and that was about it for the rotation.
Davis elevating her play would be another nice boost for this team. The return of redshirt junior guard Kylie Feuerbach from injury should help. The 6-foot guard missed all of last season with a torn ACL.
The continued development of O’Grady will be another important puzzle piece for Iowa. Sophomore guard Taylor McCabe and junior guard Sydney Affolter are other names to watch.
Final Takeaway
I liked what Chantel Jennings wrote in her recent mailbag in response to a question on whether or not Iowa would be able to make another deep tournament run without Czinano around.
Will the Hawkeyes miss Czinano? Hell yes. There’s no way that Addison O’Grady or Hannah Stuelke are going to be a one-for-one for the player that Czinano was (and a lot of that was because of the three years’ worth of ESP-like play she had with Clark).
But it’s going to be OK for Iowa. The Hawkeyes don’t need to be last year’s team, and they don’t need O’Grady or Stuelke to be exactly like Czinano. Though it is still going to be the Caitlin Clark show, the rest of the responsibility doesn’t need to mostly fall on a single player (as it often did last year with Czinano). Elite players make those around them better, so anyone who plays with Clark is going to up her game, and Clark will find a way to put O’Grady and Stuelke in positions to succeed…
For Iowa to make another run, everyone needs to improve just a bit. – Jennings, The Athletic.
This is what 2023-24 will boil down to. Sure, Clark needs to be the national player of the year again, and, in some ways, maybe she can even improve. Namely, a costly turnover here or there.
But, it will come down to Clark building trust with the entirety of this roster and instilling confidence in them that they can all make plays to fill the void that Czinano vacates. And then it comes down to the rest of the roster simply improving.
Again, sounds simple, but let’s see how it all takes shape.
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