Hawkeyes sail past Washington State

A slow start out of the gates by the Hawkeyes led to Washington State holding a one-point lead after the opening quarter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon. However, any hope of a Cougars upset bid was stomped out well before it could become a serious threat and a dominate second quarter got the wheels turning on a 72-43 blowout win for Iowa. That loss of hope has been a common theme for opponents this season, as the Hawkeyes are now 6-0 with every win coming by double digits.

Although the Cougars are just two years removed from a Pac 12 Tournament Title, that same ‘Washington State’ name doesn’t carry the same weight as did then or as it did last season when they advanced to the WBIT Quarterfinals.

Wazzu tipped off as 18.5-point underdogs and quickly found themselves trailing 9-2 with three Iowa buckets coming from Addi O’Grady. The rest of the first quarter went in favor of the Cougars, with the Hawkeyes struggling to get shots to fall. Back-to-back three-pointers from Tara Wallack and Jenna Villa gave Washington State a 19-18 advantage heading into the second quarter.

“They’re a team that’s played in the Pac 12, so they weren’t going to come in here and be intimidated,” said head coach Jan Jensen. “We let them get going a little bit. We didn’t know who we had (on defense), and we let up back-to-back transition buckets.”

“Just had a little chat about sticking to our fundamentals and wanting to dictate the action and I think they responded pretty well to that.”

The response by the Hawkeyes was emphatic.

A 10-0 run to open the second quarter was capped by a Taylor Stremlow no-look pass to Ava Heiden for a layup to make it 28-19. Meanwhile, Washington State’s early offensive success was quickly shut down, with the Hawkeye defense holding them to 2/16 (12.5%) shooting in the second quarter. Iowa outscored the Cougars 20-4 to open a 38-23 lead at the half. The energy in the second could largely be attributed to Taylor Stremlow and the freshman off the bench.

“You’re put in the game for a reason, and I think that’s the mindset that I’ve been trying to have,” said Stremlow. “Just coming in and doing whatever we can, trying to make good plays, do the right thing, but still have fun and put on a show to get the crowd going…I think throwing a little cool pass in there definitely helps get the crowd loud.”

Freshman ➡️ Freshman@StremlowTaylor x @ava_heiden#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/vJYH4eohJd

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) November 24, 2024

In the second half, the Hawkeyes did not let up with their defensive intensity and Washington State’s shooting struggles continued. Over the span of nearly 24 minutes, the Cougars missed 35 of 39 shots and scored just nine points. After putting up 19 points in the opening quarter, Wazzu wasn’t able to reach 40 points, until a Jenna Villa basket with 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. Through six games, Iowa’s opponents are averaging just 59.3 points per game and the offseason focus on defense appears to be paying off in a big way.

“I think it’s the emphasis we’ve placed on it, but people are then buying into the emphasis,” said Jensen on the defensive success. “We have people that are pretty good on the ball, so it’s allowing us to really put our best people in the positions I’d like…I do know who’s on our schedule though, Tennessee, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, so better and more consistent shooters, so anything we can do to build that confidence and I’m like what I’m seeing and I think it’s because we have a couple more on ball defenders.”

With the defensive end of the floor locked down, the Hawkeyes were able to coast on the offensive end. Lucy Olsen (17 points), Addi O’Grady (14) and Hannah Stuelke (11) all finished in double figures, but it wasn’t quite the fluid offensive night they may have hoped for. Kylie Feuerbach’s three-point shooting woes continued (0/3), while the entire team was just 2/17 (11.8%) from behind the arc. While Jan Jensen knows those numbers have to improve as the schedule gets tougher, she isn’t ready to panic just yet.

“I’m not concerned. I’m disappointed them, but I’m not concerned because I know how hard they work.”

“I think the coolest part is that they have found a different way to win, and that is with their defense, and they are believing in it. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to kick people out of the gym and that’s what’s fun about it. They can still be like ‘Oh man, sorry coach I didn’t hit those much’ and I’m like, hey we got another win. We’re going to keep improving and I’ve just got to believe that pretty soon those shots will be falling.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will head south for the Cancun Challenge at Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. Iowa is set to face Rhode Island on Thanksgiving Day and BYU on Black Friday.