Overview
- Iowa improved to 2-0 with an 80-39 victory in Iowa City, finishing Thursday night strongly after a big second-quarter run.
- Freshman McKenna Woliczko scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and hit 4 of 6 three-pointers in the game.
- The Hawkeyes forced 27 turnovers, outscored Eastern Illinois 27-8 in the second quarter, held the Panthers to 32 percent shooting, and outrebounded them 44-25.
- Transfer guard Dani Carnegie added 12 points after a 21-point debut and Iowa is using early nonconference games to integrate six newcomers even as its perimeter shooting remains inconsistent.
- Iowa travels to No. 2 UConn on Sunday, a tougher benchmark that will test whether the team’s defense, rebounding and newcomer-driven scoring can hold up against elite competition and help settle rotation choices.