Short-handed Hawkeyes give up second half lead, fall to Oregon in Eugene

With Hannah Stuelke out of the lineup, the Hawkeyes knew it was going to have to be a grit your teeth, grind it out effort in Eugene on Sunday afternoon. Looking to put an end to the program’s longest losing streak since 2016, Iowa (12-7, 2-6) built a double-digit second half lead against Oregon (14-5, 5-3). However, finish was one that has become all too familiar for the Hawkeyes.

A more than nine-minute stretch without a point allowed the Ducks to claw their way back and eventually come away with a 50-49 victory. Another gut-wrenching defeat that extends the Hawkeyes losing streak to five games for the first time since 2013.

“Nobody’s hanging their head after a loss. The kids are frustrated because they’re all thinking about how the games have been so close,” said assistant coach Raina Harmon on the postgame radio show. “We need everybody to step it up one more notch. We need to get some wins here in January and we need to be clicking in February.”

The finish, unfortunately, will be filed away in the growing book of ‘what if’s’ for Jan Jensen’s squad.

With under a minute to play, Syd Affolter got a tough, left-handed scoop shot to fall to cut the Oregon lead to 50-49. On the ensuing possession for the Ducks, the ball went to Phillipina Kyei in the post, but Addi O’Grady walled up and forced a missed from the 6’8 center. The Hawkeyes regained possession and tried to draw up a potential game-winning shot with 9.5 seconds to play.

They couldn’t have asked for a much better look.

Syd Affolter’s drive to the basket was cut off, but she was able to dump it off to Addi O’Grady for a free-throw line jumper. A midrange shot that she hit several times throughout the contest. This time, it didn’t go, and Oregon grabbed the rebound to clinch a 50-49, comeback win.

“I’d give her that shot all night,” said Harmon. “She was knocking that down left and right at the beginning of the game. Just fell a little short there at the end.”

Despite the lineup change, the Hawkeyes couldn’t have drawn up a better start to the game. They held the Ducks without a basket for the first seven minutes of the game, while three midrange jumpers from Addi O’Grady helped Iowa out to an 11-0 lead.

A pullup jumper from Lucy Olsen early in the second quarter extended the Hawkeyes advantage to 27-12 and Oregon head coach Kelly Graves was forced to take a timeout with the game on the verge of getting out of hand. The Ducks made some headway before the break, but eight points from O’Grady and five made threes had Iowa in front 32-22 at halftime.

UNC transfer Deja Kelly hit a couple of shots early in the third, trying to get the Oregon offense going, but an offensive rebound and putback from Syd Affolter kept Iowa in front 39-28. It was both a comfortable, and an uncomfortable lead at the same time.

Along with turnovers, finishing games has been a major issue this season for the Hawkeyes. Squandered second half leads against Tennessee, Michigan State and Nebraska all resulted in losses, with the latest instance, against the Huskers, coming just three days ago.

Iowa turned it over eight times in the third quarter and scored just two points over the final 4:37, allowing Oregon to pull within 41-35 heading to the final quarter. Stagnant possessions, mistakes and missed shots kept piling up. A transition three-point make from Elisa Mevius put the Ducks in front for the first time with 5:59 to play. Over the span of 11:27 in the third and fourth quarter, Iowa scored four points, turned it over eight times, and made just one of seven shot attempts.

Oregon did not relinquish the lead over the final six minutes and the final shot from Addi O’Grady came up short. By the time the Hawkeyes take the floor on Wednesday at Washington, the losing streak will have reached three weeks.

“We’ll keep working to put it together for a full 40 (minutes),” said head coach Jan Jensen on Twitter. “The only way is through.”

In the absence of Hannah Stuelke, Syd Affolter stepped up, finishing with a double-double 10 points and 15 rebounds to lead the way. Addi O’Grady was the other double figures scorer with ten points, while Kylie Feuerbach had a team-high five assists.

On the night, the Hawkeyes shot 19 of 51 (37.3%) from the floor and 6 of 19 (31.6%) from three-point range. They dominated the Ducks on the glass, outrebounding them 40-26, but turned it over 19 times to Oregon’s 11 giveaways.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes continue their west coast swing with a trip to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8:00pm CT on Peacock.