The Iowa Hawkeyes were scaling a mountain. Three consecutive games against Top 25 opponents, and they were vying to make it 3 out of 3. But they were met with a gut punch immediately in the first defensive play against Ohio State. Taylor McCabe injured her knee on a non-contact play on the Hawkeyes’ court and needed to be carried off the court to the locker room. She later returned to the Iowa bench in street clothes and an ice pack on her knee. The injury was later confirmed as an ACL tear, ruling McCabe out of the season.

Despite McCabe bowing out, the Hawkeyes dominated the Buckeyes in their 91-70 win. Addie Deal cashed a career-high 20 points, adding five assists and 3 rebounds. Senior Hannah Stuelke notched her sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Against Ohio, they fared just fine without Taylor McCabe. However, that might not be the case when they go up against No.2 UCLA.

“It’s going to be a different kind of challenge when you’re going up against a Lauren Betts that’s sitting right at the rim,” Sophia Jones said on the Locked On Women’s Basketball Podcast. Iowa next faces USC, but the real test will come against UCLA on Sunday. Both sides dominate under the rim.

UCLA shoots at 69% around the rim according to CBB Analytics, and Iowa is close by at 67.2%. The majority of their points also come inside the three-point line as well. UCLA is getting 66.8% of their points via two pointers while Iowa get 67.2%. The battle will be in the paint, but the real difference-maker will be McCabe’s absence.

“It’s going to be kind of a battle for who actually is the most dominant in the Big 10 right now. Both these teams have been beating Big 10 opponents very comfortably,” Kalia Butler said. “This is going to be a challenge when you’re talking about Hannah Stuelke, Lauren Betts, all those who are going to be dominant in the front court. But UCLA has so many guards that they could rely on too if Iowa does lack that depth a little bit with your starter going out.”

Before the injury, McCabe was having a career year. At 8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 37% from deep, McCabe was a valuable veteran presence on a team full of youth and a three-point weapon. Against UCLA, their paint play will not be at the same efficiency against UCLA as they have prevented their opponents from scoring just 40.1% within the arc.

There is also the size disadvantage, as UCLA has 4 players equal to or above 6’4 while Iowa has just 2. Comparatively, UCLA already shoot 39.1% (3rd in the country) while Iowa slightly lags behind at 36.1%. Without McCabe, that number is expected to drop further. The loss of McCabe is clearly huge in the shooting department. However, to Jan Jensen, her injury will impact their defense the most.

Taylor McCabe’s Loss Makes Iowa Defense Vulnerable

With Taylor McCabe on the sidelines, their starting guard rotation boils down to Chazadi Wright and Kyler Feuerbach. Taylor Stremlow or Addison Deal will likely step into the starting lineup. While capable players themselves, they don’t have the experience McCabe had. Experience is very important when it comes to defense. And coach Jan Jensen emphasised how important McCabe was after the Ohio State win.

“Taylor McCabe has been an extremely great leader. She’s one of our best defenders. Everybody gives her a lot of credit because she’s a great shooter. The reason she continued to be such an instrumental part of us is that Taylor took a challenge when she was a sophomore. I’m a post coach, but I met with her, and I said listen you can be a defender,” Jensen said. “I’ve seen your footwork you use this summer to get as fit as you can and as strong as you can and and and become a defender.”

Talent can help you improve the shooting in a short time. However, quality defense is achieved via repeated in-game reps. Currently, they concede 63 points a game. But against ranked opponents, that number bumps up to 72.5 points per game. Now that 1 v 1 defense is weakened, Jensen could need to tactically compensate.

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Before changing things up, Jensen will likely see how Stremlow or Deal works out defensively. If continuing with the wolfpack style defense, dependent on the gap and help defense. With tighter rotation, their pressure defense could become more conservative. In any case, a transition period for Iowa is coming at the worst time as they face USC and UCLA next.