The Iowa women open the Big Ten season hosting 24th ranked Ohio State in Iowa City this (Thursday) evening. Tip-Time at Carever-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, is 5:30-p.m.   Hawkeye coach Lisa Bluder says they’ve prepared well with a tough non-conference schedule. “Ohio State comes in here ranked in the top 25. We should be ready for that. We faced numerous teams in the top 25. We’ve done well against them,I think our team is excited to start Big Ten play and get going with this season. But, of course, Ohio State, we only play them one time all year. This is it, the first game, which is strange, out of the gates, but last year we only got to play them one time and it was at their place. We are looking forward to having them on our home court again,” Bluder says.

She says Tayler Hill is the leader of the Buckeyes. ” She can score at will. She’s a three-point shooter, driver, free-throw shooter. She is I think that’s the key to their basketball team,” Bluder says. “Ashley Adams at six five has a little girth to her, can really post up. The thing that’s impressive about her is how well she passes the ball. She’s an extraordinary passer.”

The Hawkeyes host Michigan after Ohio State, making it important to get off to a good start. “We know from experience that if you want to do well in the Big Ten, you have to do well at home. If you want to finish in the top four or five teams in this conference, you have to take care of home court. So right away these two games are pretty important for us,” Bluder says.

Iowa has gotten some votes in the polls, and Bluder believes they should get enough to be ranked. “Well my opinion, we should be. The last time I looked, our RPI was 19 in the country. We don’t have any control over that. So all we have to do, all we can do, is to go after the next game, win the next game, win the next game,” Bluder says. “Sometimes people get put up into the top 25 and never come out, seems like they can do no wrong once you get anointed up there. Other teams like us, seems like we have a hard time breaking into that.”

The Buckeyes come in with a 10-3 record. Iowa is 12-3.