While No. 12 Iowa women’s basketball (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) certainly went through its struggles following senior guard Taylor McCabe’s season-ending ACL injury on Jan. 25, sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow has stepped up lately as a vocal and energetic leader for the team, so much so that Des Moines Register’s Chad Leistikow compared Stremlow’s vibes to those of former Hawkeyes star Kate Martin.
Against a free-falling Nebraska (16-10, 5-10 Big Ten) squad on Monday from Lincoln, Neb., Stremlow delivered an impressive then-career-high 17 points performance on 6-for-7 shooting, 3-for-4 from 3-point territory, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in her second straight start to spark the Hawkeyes to an 80-67 victory.
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“She’ll chest-bump anyone,” sophomore center Ava Heiden said of Stremlow after the Nebraska win. “She gets us really fired up. She’s a spark for this team. I’m glad she’s really showing it out there.”
Similar to Martin’s role with the Hawkeyes from 2018-24, Stremlow has been able to lighten the mood of the Hawkeyes team before and during games, while remaining locked in to win, which has lately led to success as the program nears the end of the Big Ten regular season.
“As long as the whole thing’s winning, she’s pretty content,” head coach Jan Jensen said of Stremlow recently. “… She just comes back after a mistake and gets everybody to move on. She loves it, and she wins. And she’s pretty selfless. That’s a pretty cool way to play.”
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Stremlow dissected her mentality.
“Having my teammates’ back has been my main goal,” Stremlow said after the win against the Cornhuskers. “I think going into this postseason, staying composed, staying together is going to be really important, especially in those tight games.”
In Iowa’s 83-74 win at Purdue on Thursday, Stremlow caught fire again en route to a new career-high 19 points on 7-for-10 field goal shooting and 5-of-6 from 3-point land, to go along with a career-best eight assists and three rebounds in 32 minutes of action.
“Yeah, I don’t think anything’s felt super different. I’m just trying to stay consistent with my workouts and my shooting.
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“I think opportunities present themselves, and I’ve been ready for them,” Stremlow said.
In the past three games where Stremlow has been inserted into the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup, the Verona, Wis., native has scored 45 points on 73.9% shooting and 80% from beyond the arc.
Iowa’s next matchup is on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Senior Day against No. 5 Michigan (22-4, 13-2 Big Ten). The Hawkeyes and Wolverines are scheduled to tip off at 11 a.m. CT and be nationally broadcast on Fox.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa women’s basketball guard flourishing as starter
