Hawkeyes drop home game to Indiana, first three-game losing streak since 2018

The hope was that a return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena would give the Iowa women’s basketball team the spark they needed to get right. Instead, the Hawkeyes (12-5, 2-4) fell behind early against Indiana (12-4, 4-1) and never led in a 74-67 defeat. Now, riding a three-game losing streak for the first time since 2018, this version of Iowa women’s hoops finds themselves in waters that have not yet been charted by this team, or this coaching staff.

“I feel badly for the upperclassmen. They’re pressing…individually, they want to do so well, and when you want to do so well and they’re pushing to do so well, oftentimes it ends up being tighter. That’s what’s happening. We’re starting games very tight,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “The old saying, you can wait for a break, or you can create a break. I sure would love to get a break here or there in this conference season, but I’ve got to keep working to create a break too.”

Turnovers, at least early in the contest, continued to be the driving force behind the offensive struggles, as the Hawkeyes gave it away on four of their first eight possessions of the game. Another less than ideal start allowed Indiana to build an early 14-7 advantage behind a pair of three-point makes from Yarden Garzon, who was phenomenal all night for the Hoosiers. Early game mistakes continue to be a concern for Iowa and today it was Syd Affolter with a couple early turnovers.

“Unfortunately, it’s been a lot of our veterans that have made some tough decisions, and it’s putting us in a little bit of a hole,” said Jensen. “There’s pressure that comes with that, and then there’s a delicate dance of, how long do you ride that out.”

Back-to-back midrange jumpers from Addi O’Grady cut the Indiana lead to 20-17 early in the second quarter, but for much of the night, shots did not fall for the Hawkeyes when they needed them to. Lucy Olsen was just 3/12 from the floor for the night and was just 2/7 in the first half. Iowa turned it over just three times in the second, but Indiana was still able to go on a run to extend their lead.

Yarden Garzon knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a transition runout from Sydney Parrish. The 14-2 run put Iowa in a 34-19 hole and forced Jan Jensen to take a timeout. Garzon finished with a game-high 21 points and made all five three-pointers that she attempted, including shooting a look at the Iowa bench after her first one.

“I just remembered last year here, and I didn’t want it to happen again,” said the junior from Israel. “I just gave them a look to know that we’re here and we’re here to win the game.”

The Hawkeyes managed to end the half on a 7-2 run, including a couple of Addi O’Grady baskets to whittle the 15-point deficit down the 36-30 at the break. It didn’t seem like a lot, but it was a much-needed push to give them momentum going into the second half.

“I don’t think we ever stopped fighting,” said Taylor McCabe, who finished with a team-high 15 points. “The Iowa culture is definitely still there. That’s something we’re going to keep building off of.”

An early second half three-pointer from Taylor McCabe and a basket from Addi O’Grady whittled the deficit to just two points. However, Indiana hitting big shots in big moments became a common theme down the stretch. Yarden Garzon and Sydney Parrish buried back-to-back threes to cap an 11-3 run, extending the Hoosiers lead to 49-39.

“Very frustrating,” said freshman Taylor Stremlow. “That’s something that we’ve been struggling with. We are good at fighting back, especially in these recent losses, and then we let it go a little bit. We’ve got to stay more disciplined on defense and just keep communicating.”

Trailing 53-47 late in the third, Indiana hit clutch shots again. Back-to-back threes from Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish allowed the Hoosiers to head into the fourth quarter with a 59-49 lead. Every time Iowa made some semblance of a push, Teri Moren’s squad the answer.

“We built the lead, we kept it, we lost it,” said Teri Moren. “I felt like we just made big play after big play after big play. Yarden had a special night.”

Garzon continued her Hawkeye onslaught, hitting the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, including her fifth triple of the game to make it 64-59. Give Iowa credit, they could have rolled over right then and there, but they kept at it. A turnover into a Taylor McCabe three-pointer cut the deficit to 66-62 with just under 120 seconds to play, but they never got over the hump.

Karoline Striplin, who finished with eight points off the bench, converted a basket in-close late in shot clock to push the lead to 68-62. Late free throws from Chloe Moore-McNeil salted the game away and Indiana closed out a 74-67 win.

“We’ve just got to find a way to click,” Stremlow said, “on all sides.”

“We’re going to let this one hit us for a little bit,” said McCabe. “We’re on a losing streak now, so we’ve got to find a way to bounce back and snap that.”

On the night, the Hawkeyes shot just 21 of 62 (33.9%) from the floor and 6 of 19 (31.6%) from three-point range. Taylor McCabe led the way with 15 points, while Addi O’Grady added 11 points on 5/7 shooting. Taylor Stremlow gave a bit spark off the bench, finishing with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists. Iowa outrebounded Indiana 38-31 and won the points off turnovers battle 24-9.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes are set to host the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.