[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After winning back-to-back contests for the first time in over a month, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team (8-10, 2-6 Big Ten) will look to extend their conference roll to three games when the ladies travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face the Iowa Hawkeyes (15-4, 4-4) on Sunday afternoon.

Iowa has dominated Wisconsin historically, owning a 29-18 edge in the series. The Hawkeyes are even more dominant at home, posting an 18-7 record against Wisconsin. Recent history hasn’t been much kinder to the Badgers as they haven’t beaten the Hawkeyes in their last five contests, failing to post a victory since Wisconsin defeated Iowa at Iowa City, Dec. 30, 2001.

“It’s definitely hard to play on the road, no team likes traveling away from their home court,” said Badger forward Annie Nelson. “But it’s a great atmosphere and they are a great team who takes pride in where they play and they never want to lose on their home court.”

This season Iowa has continued their home-court dominance, garnering a 9-1 record at home, on their way to a 15-4 overall record. Their lone loss was a 71-77 decision against conference rival Penn State, their first loss of the season. However the loss instigated a tailspin for the team, as the Hawkeyes dropped three of their next four contests, though all came on the road against top-25 opponents.

Instrumental in those losses was the Hawkeyes’ defensive struggles. The Hawkeyes currently rank eighth in the Big Ten in defensive scoring, allowing 65.2 points per game. Their biggest struggle has been defending the 3-point shot, allowing teams to shoot 36 percent from downtown.

Iowa’s defensive struggles have the Badgers feeling optimistic about their chances in the contest.

“We match up really well with them this year,” said Nelson. “Steph’s been having a great year and Jolene has been producing very well on offense. So I think if we just bring our complete team down there and all our scoring efforts we’ll be just fine.”

Offensively the fast-paced Iowa attack has created turnover issues for the team. The Hawkeyes turn the ball over more than 18 times a game, two-and-a-half more turnovers per game than their opponents. With their propensity for turnovers, especially steals, as teams are averaging 9.4 steals per game against them, the Badgers plan on pressuring the Iowa ball handlers.

“We definitely like playing multiple defensive sets against teams just out of timeout to throw a zone trap on them, just to do anything to fluster their ball handlers,” said Nelson.

The Hawkeyes, however, make up for their defensive deficiencies with a high-powered offensive attack. Led by junior Crystal Smith and senior Jamie Cavey, who average 17 and 16.5 points per game respectively, the Hawkeyes post over 71 points per game.

But Cavey, having taken over the senior leader role, has stepped up her play since the beginning of the conference season. In eight games, Cavey is averaging 17.6 points per game to go with her 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, all team leading. Despite recent struggles against dominant post players, the Badgers are committed to an all-out effort against Cavey.

“All the post players have to be aggressive,” said freshman guard Jolene Anderson. “If they can fight and get her into foul trouble and have her sit the bench a little bit that’ll help us a lot.”