Hawkeye State: Fourth quarter surge pushes Iowa past Iowa State for a grueling in-state win
The intensity of the in-state battle between Iowa and Iowa State could be felt throughout Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday night. A sold-out crowd seemingly living and dying with every made basket, and two teams that stopped at nothing to earn bragging rights for the next 365 days.
At moments, it looked like Iowa State was going to send the crowd of nearly 15,000 home disappointed, leading by as much as ten points late in the third quarter. However, when the game hit crunch time, instead of folding like they did against Tennessee, the Hawkeyes found another gear to pull out a grueling, 75-69, win over their in-state rival.
“We were down for a lot of the game, but we were never out. We never thought we were going to lose that game,” said senior leader Syd Affolter. “No matter what the score is, we’re competing until the buzzer hits, and I thought we did that really well.”
Things did not get off to a favorable start for Jan Jensen and Co., as the Cyclones used an early 10-0 surge to open a 12-2 lead. The play of Lucy Olsen kept the Hawkeyes in it early, as she scored the team’s first eight points. Audi Crooks got in a rhythm early, while Addy Brown knocked in a trio of first quarter threes to give ISU a 20-17 lead after ten minutes.
“Iowa State started out pretty hot and that was a problem,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “You cannot have a fake help to Audi (Crooks). You take help and then you lean, which you can’t stop her, and then you’re about half a yard behind (the shooter) …Addy Brown, a big fan of hers, she went three for three in the first half.”
In the second quarter, the concern meter for Iowa’s three-point shooting nearly broke. Although the Hawkeyes only trailed by a couple of points, an 0/9 start from three-point range was deeply distressing. Finally, the lid was lifted. Iowa hit four threes in the final five minutes of the half, including a pair of Syd Affolter. They trailed by double digits in the first quarter, shot poorly from three-point range and missed opportunities at the free throw line, but managed to claw their way to a 39-36 halftime deficit.
With star forward Addy Brown on the bench with three first half fouls, the Cyclones turned to Audi Crooks in the third quarter. She dominated on the low block with 11 points in the quarter, helping push the ISU lead to 56-46 late in the third quarter. Crooks finished with a game-high 31 points and ten rebounds.
“She’s so big and strong and she’s got beautiful touch. She does a lot of work early,” said Jensen. “I didn’t go into this game thinking we were possibly going to shut her down totally.”
The true inflexion point of the game came in the closing minutes of the third quarter. Trailing by ten points, the Hawkeyes backs were firmly up against the wall with little room for error. Kylie Feuerbach was just 2/8 from three on the night, but hit a huge one to cut into the deficit. Moments later after a defensive stop, Syd Affolter buried a triple sending the game to the fourth quarter within striking distance at 56-53.
Affolter was tremendous, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds. With questions swirling about her perceived ‘lackluster’ play, Syd stepped up in the big moments to help push her team to a win.
“There’s really no excuses. I needed to be more aggressive on the offensive end. I know my role is different than last year, and I need to take more shots,” said Affolter. “That’s what I wanted to do, so I was definitely more aggressive minded today. I know I’m a good shooter and when I’m open, I can knock those shots down.”
Down the stretch, in the fourth quarter, it was the Iowa defense that stepped up in a big way. Jan Jensen opted to move Hannah Stuelke onto Audi Crooks and put Syd Affolter at the power forward spot, with three guards on the perimeter. The Hawkeye defense held ISU to just five points over the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. On the night, the defense forced 21 turnovers and were able to cash in for 24 points. A complete flip from the loss to Tennessee.
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“They’re very, very physical on the perimeter,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly. “They have length at every spot, and they really just get up into you. They make it really hard for you to run your offense and they have interchangeable parts.”
“They’re a really good, solid, fundamental defensive team that really makes it hard for you to run your stuff.”
Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Lucy Olsen capped off a 9-2 run to make 65-61 Iowa with a midrange jumper, plus the foul to ignite the crowd. Olsen finished with a team-high 25 points and five assists.
“You could feel the energy was really different,” said Olsen of her first Cy-Hawk experience. I don’t really feel (the rivalry) like that, but I just don’t like losing…I think we came out tonight with a lot of energy, and the crowd really helped with that.”
Every good rivalry game has to have a good shot that puts the game away and freshman guard Aaliyah Guyton delivered the dagger. With just under a minute to play leading 68-63, Guyton got the ball and didn’t hesitate. She pulled the trigger and drilled a three to give Iowa a commanding eight-point advantage with 40 seconds to play. The shot that closed out the Hawkeyes 75-69 win.
“They were in a zone, so I knew we were going to have shooters open,” said Lucy Olsen. “We were going to set a ball screen, but we already had the mismatch with two good shooters on the left side. Aaliyah just hit it. That was awesome.”
Lucy Olsen and Syd Affolter combined for 41 points, while Hannah Stuelke added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. On the night, Iowa shot 26 of 61 (42.6%) from the floor and 8 of 25 (32.0%) from three-point range. They took care of the ball, turning it over just nine times to Iowa State’s 21 turnovers.
Up Next: The Hawkeyes travel to East Lansing for their Big Ten opener on Sunday against 17th-ranked Michigan State. Tipoff is set for 11:00am CT on the Big Ten Network.
