Mailbag: Answering some Iowa WBB questions

With the Iowa Women’s Basketball season approaching, there’s going to be plenty of season preview content coming over the next couple of weeks. Today was team media day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which meant we had the opportunity to speak with players and coaches about the upcoming year. You sent in your questions — and we’ve got some answers.

Q: A lot of players getting mentioned for the upcoming season, how about the progress of Teagan Mallegni?

I spoke with assistant coach Abby Stamp today and she said that Teagan Mallegni has made a noticeable jump this offseason. She rebounded decently well in limited action last year, but everyone knows her three-point shooting came up well short of what she’s capable of. I was told that she’s looked more confident with her three-point shooting and she’s been steadily climbing each day in practice.

Where she fits into the rotation is an interesting question. Her obvious fit would be at the 4 when Hannah Stuelke goes to the bench and she’s averaging 25.9 minutes per game over the last two seasons, so there may be some minutes to be had there. If she shows to be a consistent three-point shooter and keeps her rebounding up, she will deserve minutes.

Q: How are the two transfers, Chit-Chat Wright and Emely Rodriguez fitting in?

The coaching staff does a really good job recruiting players that fit both their system and their culture. They’ve fit in really well with the culture that Iowa has built, which is the first step. They’re both still learning the system that Iowa runs because it differs from what they ran at Georgia Tech and UCF.

Chit-Chat Wright is going to be the starting point guard and will do a great job facilitating to her teammates, but they want her to take more shots. As for Emely Rodriguez, she is learning what it’s like to play with a bunch of talent around her, after playing with a UCF team that finished near the bottom of the Big 12. That being said, she’s versatile, she’s got good size and isn’t afraid to create looks for herself. Both transfers are going to fit in very well.

Q: Does Jan Jensen envision a more up-tempo pace this year offensively?

Yes. The Hawkeyes were never going to play at the frantic pace that they did with Caitlin Clark running the show, but they fell to 78th in possessions per game last season. Abby Stamp told me they want to be closer to the pace that they played when Kathleen Doyle was the point guard. Chit-Chat is quick and likes to get out in transition, which will be perfect with a frontcourt of Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden that loves to run. Expect them to make a move back up the tempo charts.

Q: How are Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden meshing at the 4 and 5?

It’s a work in progress, but it sounds like things are going well so far. Assistant coach LaSondra Barrett said that Hannah Stuelke looks comfortable shooting from the perimeter in scrimmages, while Hannah herself sounded confident in her ability to hit that shot this season. Meanwhile, assistant coach Randi Henderson was effusive with her praise for Ava Heiden and says the sky is the limit for her. She’s worked hard on that 15-foot jump shot that Addi O’Grady perfected last season.

I’m not going to say that it’s going to be a perfect fit, especially right from the start of the season, but I’m optimistic that Stuelke and Heiden will be able to have more success than Stuelke and O’Grady did last season. I want to see them through the first few games (Ashland, Southern, Evansville) before I make any further assessments.

Q: Under the radar player?

I’m going to go with Taylor McCabe. She may not be under the radar in the sense that she’s not someone going from minimal minutes to a big role because of massive offseason improvements. However, she started 19 games last season and really hasn’t gotten any talk in the lead up to this season.

I don’t expect Taylor to be in the starting lineup, but her three-point shooting is going to be a huge key for this team this season. A career 42.1% three-point shooter, McCabe made a career-high 68 triples last season. Was told that she has improved on the defensive end and has been hunting her shot more intentionally.

Q: Is Layla Hays expected to get significant playing time early?

Significant? No, because Ava Heiden is going to be the starting center. That being said, I expect Layla Hays to earn backup center minutes. The coaching staff likes what she brings to the table with her height, size and how she presents a different look compared to Ava Heiden. There’s going to be a learning curve for her once games start and she goes up against DI physicality rather than what she saw in high school in Alaska.

Q: How is the health of the team?

The only bit of health news that has been shared with the media is that Taylor Stremlow missed some time with a sprained ankle at the beginning of fall practice, but she has been back and practicing for over a week now.