Iowa vs. Illinois Tactical Breakdown: 3 Ways Hawkeyes Can Beat Fighting Illini

Currently ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, the Iowa Hawkeyes are the No. 2 seed in the B1G Tournament.

Only No. 1 UCLA is ranked higher than them, something that is not surprising as the Bruins went undefeated in conference play.

No. 10 Illinois has already won a pair of games in Indianapolis as they look to pull off their second straight upset.

There's a ton of momentum currently for the Fighting Illini, especially with senior forward Hannah Stuelke's status up in the air.

1. Push the Pace

24 hours out. ⏳ pic.twitter.com/BPhl0s54bL
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 5, 2026

Illinois needs to win five games in five days in order to become B1G Tournament Champions. That's not an easy feat and is something the Hawkeyes need to take advantage of. Sure, the Fighting Illini's win over Michigan State is impressive, but they're about to play their third game in three straight days.

In the team's first meeting on February 26, Iowa won the turnover battle, 14-11. They only had eight fast break points to Illinois' five, but that's still another category where they came out on top. Most importantly, they had eight steals compared to just four of the Fighting Illini. Iowa needs to play this game at 200% to wear out an Illinois team that is coming in on minimal rest.

2. Improve From Three-Point Range

Second year head coach Jan Jensen had to give Illinois credit as the Hawkeyes were held to just 2-7 from three point range. Not often does this Iowa team only attempt seven threes, but that's exactly what happened back at Carver.

Iowa still outshot Illinois in terms of field goal percentage (58% to 53%), but the threes were a glaring issue. Seeing as they only won by four points, that ultimately came as no surprise knowing they only made two three-pointers.

3. Adapt Without Hannah Stuelke

Oh hey, Indy 👋 pic.twitter.com/DUkkPS28As
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 5, 2026

It's hard to compare this Illinois squad to Purdue or Wisconsin, but that's the only sample size Iowa has where Stuelke didn't compete. In fact, it's impossible to compare the Fighting Illini to the Badgers as they just beat them in the first round.

Regardless, Iowa seems like they'll be without their star senior. No team wants to not have their second leading scorer on the court, especially in a tournament like this where Stuelke has a ton of experience.

It's safe to assume either Addie Deal or Journey Houston will get the start over Stuelke. Iowa will have to use their depth to their advantage. They've relied on freshman and sophomore's all season long, so they just have to pretent this is just another regular season game.

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