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The No. 22 Iowa Hawkeyes treated their fans to a bit of a doozy when an in-state rival, the Northern Iowa Panthers, came to town on Friday night.
The Hawkeyes led by as many as 18 points, seemingly well on their way to an expected dominant victory. They were scoring in bunches, moving the ball around and getting productive minutes out of their bench.
Senior guard Lucy Olsen was carrying the team with her patent midrange jumper and playmaking. Junior forward Hannah Stuelke and senior forward Addison O’Grady were working wonders in the paint. Senior guard Sydney Affolter was crashing the boards at will. Coming off the bench, junior guard Taylor McCabe was lights out from beyond the arc, while freshman guard Teegan Mallengi was perfect at the free throw line.
However, the Panthers came storming back from the brink, putting the Hawkeyes on their heels in the final quarter as they got within one possession a number of times. Northern Iowa threatened in large part to the scoring exploits of grad guards Maya McDermott and Kayba Laube, as well as Iowa’s struggling defense.
A strong feeling of anxiousness began to reverberate through the packed crowd of over 14,000 at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Then, the Hawkeyes found their spark at just the right moment.
With 4:19 remaining and clinging to a 78-77 lead, McCabe converted on a huge 3-pointer to increase the lead to four, boosting Iowa’s confidence. Three minutes later, after a fierce back-and-forth scoring battle, Stuelke came through in one, heroic sequence. With 36 seconds left, she made a layup to give the Hawkeyes an 87-83 lead. Then, with 25 seconds left, she blocked a shot attempt by McDermott, drawing a thunderous applause from the crowd and leading the Hawkeyes down the path towards victory.
Stuelke finished with 15 points, shooting 4-for-5 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line, while dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds. Olsen led the team with 21 points, adding seven assists and six rebounds. O’Grady came away with 18 points, going 8-for-10 from the field, and collected six rebounds. McCabe had 15 points, all of which came from five 3-pointers. She spoke to her behind-the-arc proficiency after the game, sharing:
I feel like, for people that know me, know that’s gonna be my strength and that’s where I’m gonna do my thing. Not to say that’s not the only thing I can do, because my teammates and coaches know that isn’t the case. It’s just always been a strength of mine and that’s definitely where I’m comfortable at and that’s why I’m in the gym so much getting reps in and it’s what gonna continue to work for me.
For Northern Iowa, McDermott finished with 30 points, while Laube scored 20 points.
Adding Friday night’s win to their recent 75-69 victory over Iowa State and their 89-73 win over Drake on Nov. 17, the Hawkeyes completed a sweep of in-state matchups. After the game, head coach Jan Jensen, who both played and served as an assistant at Drake, spoke about the increased fan appreciation for women’s basketball across the state:
I think women do it because we appreciated the fanbases so much I think. The women’s game, I think people have appreciated it over the years because I think women play with a tenacity and a joy and they compete really hard. All my years, I was always trying to get fans to watch us, whether it was at Drake or here. What I was trying to sell…if you really appreciate someone pushing towards a goal and being so passionate and working with their heart and soul, you could appreciate the women’s game. And so when we got fans who were like, “Hey, you know, they are working pretty hard.”….So the fans, they really have been enjoying women’s basketball for the spirit, in my opinion, of which the game has always been played.
Iowa (10-2, 0-1) will take on Purdue (6-5, 0-1) in their Big Ten home opener on Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. ET.
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