Kylie Feuerbach is the latest member of Iowa’s Day-to-Day Club

IOWA CITY — Kylie Feuerbach has joined a less-than-favorable society.

The Day-To-Day Club.

“It’s kind of a weird ankle bone jam,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said about her veteran captain. “The amount of pain is pretty high, and there’s a lot of tenderness when she really pushes off.”

If Feuerbach can’t go when the 14th-ranked Hawkeyes (11-2, 2-0) face their first legit Big Ten test Thursday — it’s No. 20 Nebraska (12-1, 1-1), 1 p.m., Carver-Hawkeye Arena (BTN) — it’s a predicament, even if she isn’t a prime scoring option.

“She’s a fifth-year player. She never messes us plays. She can break the press. She’s our best defender. She keeps us calm,” Jensen said.

The Hawkeyes could use a stopper against Nebraska, which averages 87.8 points per game. Particularly, Britt Prince (18.5 ppg), a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard.

“We recruited the heck out of her,” Jensen said about Prince, an Omaha native. “She’s a great player. Her shooting is a little Caitlin (Clark)-esque, but not with quite the range.”

Nebraska is coming off its first loss of the season, 74-66 at Lincoln to USC.

Since the Big Ten’s expansion to 18 teams two years ago, the Hawkeyes and Huskers have become “double-play” combatants, meaning they are the only team that each other plays twice in league play.

“I think most people would consider them our biggest rivals,” Jensen said. “We had some intense games with them when we had Caitlin, and I think that intensified the rivalry.

“It’s a good, old-fashioned border rivalry.”

The teams split their two games last year, both winning on the road.

Iowa’s last game was a 99-76 home victory over Penn State, on Sunday.

“It was (a) solid (performance),” Jensen said. “We had a good third quarter, which was good because we hadn’t been coming out in the second half well.

“I’m happy that Ava (Heiden) stayed out of foul trouble, and happy we were able to get it done without Kylie.”

Feuerbach is one of several Hawkeyes to have missed time this season, joining key players like Chit-Chat Wright and Teagan Mallegni (both now back) and Emely Rodriguez (still questionable).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com