The Lady Lions embark on their toughest game yet: Iowa

“I always say, you’re never going to stop Caitlin completely, right?”

Those were the words of Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger on Tuesday about Caitlin Clark, the main piece of the Lady Lions’ toughest challenge so far.

The blue and white head to Iowa City to take on the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes as they search for their eighth Big Ten win of the season.

Penn State is coming off of an 80-75 loss to the Michigan Wolverines at home on Saturday that saw the Lady Lions’ six-game win streak come to an end.

The game was also the first full 40 minutes without graduate guard Tay Valladay, who exited the contest against Minnesota early due to injury. The former Marquette and Virginia player averaged 11.5 points per game, the fourth most on the team.

“Michigan was a good game to figure out what life looks like without Tay in the lineup,” Kieger said in this week’s media availability. “It was a little bit of an adjustment, but I think this team is ready to rise again.”

While the Lady Lions have dealt with injury woes to Makenna Marisa and Ashley Owusu this season, playing the Hawkeyes creates an even bigger test for a team without an empty injury report.

Iowa sports a 21-2 record and sits at the top spot in the Big Ten standings. They also have the conference’s highest-scoring offense with 91.9 points per game with Penn State sitting second in that category.

Their offensive attack revolves around superstar guard Caitlin Clark. The 6-foot senior is currently 66 points shy of passing Kelsey Plum for the most points in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history and is the reigning back-to-back Nancy Lieberman Award winner.

While Coach Kieger addressed Clark’s “elite” scoring ability, she also showcased some of the more underrated aspects of her skill set.

“Her passing is what really separates her,” Kieger said. “It’s rare that you have an elite scorer with the vision that she has.”

Kieger also acknowledged Iowa’s offensive prowess as a whole. She stated that simply making sure that players “don’t go off for career highs” is a major component in approaching a game plan against the Hawkeyes.

On the defensive side, Iowa and Penn State sit at ninth and 11th in the Big Ten respectively in terms of points per game allowed. Kieger herself said that she expects to see a high-scoring affair inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

While Iowa made it to the NCAA finals last season and Penn State has been flirting with the Top 25, receiving one AP vote last week, Kieger is still excited about what this matchup presents for her team.

“This is an awesome opportunity for our student-athletes to get that great atmosphere and a March-feeling game,” Kieger said. “Hopefully we can be a good show.”

The Lady Lions look to play spoiler tonight on the road, with tipoff set for 9 p.m. EST.

Jack Rachinsky is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jjr6682@psu.edu.