Free throws haunt, Hawkeyes fall to Nebraska in overtime

As the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours” and in Iowa City, it’s currently a seemingly never-ending monsoon for the Iowa women’s basketball team. A woeful free-throw performance down the stretch allowed the Huskers to send the game to overtime, and eventually down the Hawkeyes 87-84. The loss, which drops Iowa to 12-6 and 2-5 in Big Ten play, was one they needed to have.

“I think it came down to, no secret, it came down to those free throws. We just needed one of those to go,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “I can do a lot of things, but you just can’t make free throws for them.”

“I did see a lot of improvement…Now, as a coach, you’ve got to reprimand and demand it, but you’ve also got to make sure they know they can do it.”

Perhaps the most painful part of the loss was that some of the areas that have consistently hurt the Hawkeyes went in their favor on Thursday night. Turnover battle? Won. Rebounding battle? Won. Get off to a better start? They did that too. However, the result was the same. Another loss in what has become the program’s first four-game losing streak since 2012-13.

“I keep telling them that we’ve got to create a break,” said Jensen. “I’m not one that is just going to depend on catching a break. We need to create them and that’s one thing we haven’t done yet.”

It looked like the Hawkeyes were going to create the break they’ve been desperately searching for. After enduring eight made threes from Nebraska in the first half to fight to a 38-37 halftime deficit, Jan Jensen’s squad made winning plays in the second half to create some seperation.

Addi O’Grady, who came off the bench for the second time in three games, provided some offense in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Aaliyah Guyton’s stock continued to skyrocket, with a couple of big shots to help build a 56-51 lead for Iowa heading into the fourth quarter. O’Grady and Guyton combined to score 12 of the Hawkeyes 19 third quarter points.

The lead expanded in the fourth with Iowa going on an 8-2 run, capped off by a Kylie Feuerbach steal that led to a Hannah Stuelke dish to Lucy Olsen for an easy layup. With the crowd on their feet and behind their Hawkeyes, a 64-53 felt, at that moment, like enough. Enough to end the losing skid and end the frustration. Enough to turn the page before the path got too daunting.

Except it wasn’t.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Logan Nissley and a layup from Alexis Markowski chopped Iowa’s lead to 64-61 in the span of 75 seconds. That’s all it took for all the momentum to shift away from the Hawkeyes.

“We just had a pretty flat group out there,” said Jensen. “Turned real, real quickly.”

With the lead down to 64-63, Lucy Olsen dialed up a three-pointer. A couple of possessions later, Syd Affolter buried a three-pointer. The Hawkeyes were back to hitting shots and making winnings plays, but so were the Huskers. Leading 72-70 with under two minutes to play, free throws became the ultimate struggle.

Syd Affolter split a pair to make it 73-70, but Lucy Olsen, who had never missed more than three free throws in a game in her entire career, missed five in the fourth quarter. After Britt Prince hit her fifth triple of the game to tie it at 75, Olsen got to the free throw line, only to miss her fifth in a row. She was able to avoid coming up empty, making her second, while Kylie Feuerbach added one to make it 77-75 with 15 seconds to play.

In crunch time, when Nebraska needed it, freshman point guard Britt Prince got to the paint, drew a foul and calmly sank the game-tying free throws with 2.8 to play. That was the story. The Huskers made their free throws, knocking down 18/22. Iowa was 16/29. The Hawkeyes did get a look from Aaliyah Guyton at the buzzer, but it didn’t fall, and the game headed to overtime.

It never truly felt like Iowa was going to win in it overtime. They were reeling from the collapse that got them to that point and Nebraska was able to build an 85-78 lead.

“It’s just the hangover from not wanting to go to overtime. They’re the team that got the momentum, and we needed to punch first, and we weren’t able to do that.”

A very choppy overtime that included 22 free throws and just one made field goal still managed to yield the Hawkeyes opportunities to tie it. Taylor McCabe, a near 50% three-point shooter for the year, made just one of her six attempts from behind the arc. She had a chance to tie it with 20 seconds to play, but her three didn’t fall. Then, in the closing seconds, after Hannah Stuelke forced a turnover, Aaliyah Guyton found Syd Affolter wide open for a chance to send it to 2OT.

It didn’t fall and realistically, it shouldn’t have. The Hawkeyes had every opportunity to close it out in regulation and they didn’t do it. When those types of games go to overtime, the team that blew the lead rarely comes out on top.

On the night, Iowa was 30 of 68 (44.1%) from the floor and 8 of 27 (29.6%) from three-point range. Hannah Stuelke was fantastic, totaling 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Aaliyah Guyton added 14 points and four assists. Syd Affolter finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds to make it two Hawkeyes with double-doubles. Six players scored in double figures.

The Hawkeyes outrebounded Nebraska 42-38, winning the second chance points 11-10. They won the turnover battle and outscored the Huskers 23-16 in points off turnovers. Winning numbers in almost every category.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes head to the west coast for a matchup with the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 4:00pm CT on BTN+.