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Hawkeyes take down Minnesota, extend their winning streak to four games

On3 imageby:Kyle Huesmann•about 10 hours•

HuesmannKyle

Iowa guards Kylie Feuerbach and Syd Affolter celebrate a win over USC. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)
Iowa guards Kylie Feuerbach and Syd Affolter celebrate a win over USC. (Photo by Dennis Scheidt)

When the game got tight, and the situation called for players to step up and hit big shots to close out a win, the Hawkeyes answered the bell. After allowing a double digit second half to slip away, big time plays from the veterans down the stretch helped Iowa (16-7, 6-6) finish off a wire-to-wire win over Minnesota (18-6, 6-6) at Williams Arena. The win was another step forward in the development for the Hawkeyes, who have won four straight games.

“We had a little bit of adversity getting here, but that is such a great example for life. We got delayed about eight hours, slept in Cedar Rapids, no one cares. That’s how it is in life,” said head coach Jan Jensen after the game. “You’ve just got to find a way and I thought this was two teams that really wanted to find a way, and we just kept grinding it out.”

Adversity hit the Hawkeyes before they even made it to Minneapolis. An ice storm swept across Iowa on Wednesday evening left the team stranded on the runway at the Eastern Iowa Airport for several hours and delayed their departure until Thursday morning. The team landed at the St Paul Airport less than seven hours before tipoff.

The unique travel situation appeared to have minimal effects, as Iowa came out firing on all cylinders. They knocked down four first quarter triples, including two from Syd Affolter to jump out to an 18-7 advantage. It was the second consecutive game that the Hawkeyes had gotten off to a hot start, outscoring USC and Minnesota by a combined score of 36-11 over the first ten minutes of the game.

A three-pointer from Mallory Heyer cut the Iowa lead to 21-14 in the second quarter, but a short 6-0 run restored the lead to double digits. Leading 32-21 at the half, the Hawkeyes forced the normally disciplined Gophers into ten turnovers and held them to 28.0% shooting from the floor.

“We talked about holding them under their average for rebounding, holding them under their average for points and then also trying to get consecutive back-to-back-to-back stops,” said assistant coach Raina Harmon. “We did that eight times this game.”

That defense, that held Minnesota to a season-low 60 points was needed in the second half. After Iowa controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half, the Gophers were able to slow the game down and it kept the Hawkeyes offense out of sync. They were 3/12 from the floor in the quarter and scored just 11 points, allowing Minnesota to claw within 43-37 heading into the fourth quarter, but it could have been even closer. The Gophers offense cleaned up their turnovers, but were unable to capitalize, with the Iowa offense holding them to 5/17 shooting in the third.

“We had that little lull where we couldn’t score much in the third, but I thought our defense still showed up,” said Harmon.

A couple of early fourth quarter triples from Tori McKinney and Annika Stewart cut further into the Iowa lead, while a layup from Grace Grocholski capped off a 14-6 run for the Gophers and tied the game at 51 with 4:33 to play.

In similar situations earlier in the season, the Hawkeyes would have faltered. They would have tightened up and turned it over or missed big free throws. Down the stretch, the veterans on the team rose to the occasion and made winning plays to pull out the win.

Hannah Stuelke scored on back-to-back possessions to give Iowa a 58-53 lead, and a sliver of breathing room with just two minutes to play. Stuelke would eventually foul out, but finished with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds.

On the ensuing Hawkeyes possession, after a defensive stop, Syd Affolter dialed up her third triple of the game. Late in the shot clock, Affolter got the ball on the wing right in front of the Iowa bench and found the bottom of the net to make it 61-53.

The Gophers answered, with a three-pointer from Annika Stewart, but their hopes of a final minute comeback were quickly dashed. After missing all four of her prior three-point attempts, the always confident Taylor McCabe rattled in a triple to make it 64-56 with just 49 seconds to play. Some late free throws added to the total and Iowa came away with a well-earned 68-60 victory. It marks the Hawkeyes 11th straight win over Minnesota dating back to 2018.

On the night, the Hawkeyes shot 24 of 58 (41.4%) from the floor and 6 of 20 (30.0%) from three-point range. The starting lineup combined to score 60 of the teams’ 68 points, with Syd Affolter notching a double-double, 13 points and 14 rebounds. Lucy Olsen added 14 points and seven assists, while Kylie Feuerbach poured in 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Defensively, Iowa held Minnesota to a season-low 60 points on 20 of 57 (35.1%) shooting. On the glass, they were dominate, outrebounding the Gophers 44-33, including pulling down 33 of 39 (84.6%) defensive rebounds and 11 of 38 (28.9%) offensive rebounds. They have now outrebounded their opponent in 21 of 23 games this season.

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will go up against another border rival on the road, traveling to Lincoln for a matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.

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