NCAAW: Iowa comes up short of dramatic upset of No. 3 UCLA

The Iowa Hawkeyes were within reach of an improbable upset over the visiting No. 3 UCLA Bruins on Sunday afternoon. But the Bruins dashed those hopes as they held onto a narrow 67-65 win.

The Hawkeyes got off to a sluggish start as they trailed 8-2 and went on a four-minute scoring drought. They had to contend with a Bruin team possessing more size and strength, particularly with their center and Naismith Player of the Year candidate Lauren Betts.

Things started to pick up for the Hawkeyes in the waning moments of the first quarter. A steal from Sydney Affolter to find Addison O’Grady for the jumper ended their scoring drought. A pair of 3-pointers by Aaliyah Guyton and Lucy Olsen just before the buzzer sounded put the Hawkeyes down just 14-12 after the first.

In the second quarter, the Hawkeyes managed to tie the game five times before finally taking their first lead at around the three minute mark thanks to a 3-pointer by Taylor McCabe. The Hawkeyes proceeded to go on an 11-0 run, capping off the first half with an Olsen layup just before the horn went off to lead the Bruins 36-29 at the break. Iowa had outscored UCLA 24-15 in the second quarter.

The Hawkeyes continued their surge into the third quarter with a couple of 3-pointers by Olsen and Kylie Feuerbach, increasing their lead to 12 points. Then, the Bruins began to claw their way back, going on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to two points. Kiki Rice went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to end the quarter tied at 50.

The fourth quarter was a real back-and-forth battle with four ties and three lead changes. In the final seconds, the Bruins led 65-62 before Olsen was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. She made all three of her free throws to tie the game at 65 with six seconds left. The Bruins then called timeout. UCLA’s Elina Aarnisalo had the ball and was guarded by Olsen before she was called for a foul after running into a screen. (The replay, however, seemed to show that Olsen was tripped due to a moving screen.)

Nevertheless, Aarnisalo made two free throws to put the Bruins up 67-65 with 3.8 seconds left as the Hawkeyes took their last timeout. Iowa inbounded the ball and it found its way into the hands of O’Grady. She tried to go for the winning 3-pointer, but it fell short of the basket and went out of bounds just before the horn went off. Three tenths of a second were added to clock as the Bruins inbounded. O’Grady stole the ball at midcourt and tried to go for the halfcourt shot, but to no avail.

In the process, the Hawkeyes lost their second-consecutive game after coming up short in overtime to Ohio State on Monday, Feb. 17, 86-78.

Iowa (18-9, 8-8) will hit the road to take on Michigan (19-8, 10-6) on Wednesday Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.