By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Jan Jensen’s second run through the Big Ten as Iowa’s women’s basketball head coach will start on the road.

The Hawkeyes will begin the conference schedule with a game at Rutgers on December 6.

The 18-game schedule was released Thursday. Among the features of Iowa’s schedule:

• The Hawkeyes get a New Year’s Day home game against Nebraska. It’s the first time Iowa has played a New Year’s Day home game since 2006.

• The Hawkeyes’ West Coast swing will be at USC on January 29 and UCLA on February 1. USC won the regular-season title last season, while UCLA won the conference tournament.

• Iowa also has back-to-back road stretches against Northwestern (January 5) and Indiana (January 11), and Nebraska (February 16) and Purdue (February 19).

• Iowa has seven conference games on Sundays, four of them at home. The Hawkeyes’ first Big Ten home game is against Penn State on December 28. They also have Sunday home games against Michigan State (January 18), Ohio State (January 25) and Michigan (February 22.

Iowa’s Big Ten schedule:

December 6 — at Rutgers

December 28 — Penn State

January 1 — Nebraska

January 5 — at Northwestern

January 11 — at Indiana

January 15 — Oregon

January 18 — Michigan State

January 22 — at Maryland

January 25 — Ohio State

January 29 — at USC

February 1 — at UCLA

February 5 — Minnesota

February 11 — Washington

February 16 — at Nebraska

February 19 — at Purdue

February 22 — Michigan

February 26 — Illinois

March 1 — at Wisconsin

Photo: Jan Jensen begins her second season as Iowa’s women’s basketball head coach. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)