The Iowa Hawkeyes (16-7 6-6) may not have Caitlin Clark anymore, but they proved to be on another tier against the Gophers (18-6 6-6) beating Minnesota 68-60 on the road at Williams Arena. Iowa started on a 13-2 run holding Minnesota to two points in nearly 6 1/2 minutes. Minnesota had six turnovers and shot 3-12 in the first quarter. Lucy Olson and Sydney Affolter provided the early scoring for Iowa as Minnesota added four more turnovers in the 2nd quarter to make it a 32-21 halftime lead for the Hawkeyes.
The Gophers battled back in the third quarter holding Iowa to shoot 3-12 from the floor, Minnesota was able to cut the lead to six, 43-37 heading into the fourth quarter. Freshman Tori McKinney had 13 of her 16 points in the second half, and Annika Stewart provided 14 points off the bench. The Gophers tied it up late at 51-51 but it wasn’t enough as the Gophers lost to Iowa for the 11th time in a row.
Iowa got some clutch shooting out of junior Hannah Stuelke who scored 17 points, eight of those points were in the fourth quarter, and she also grabbed seven rebounds. Earlier in the game, Stuelke recorded her 1,000th point.
Tori McKinney had 16 points, Annika Stewart scored 14 points, and Mallory Heyer recorded her 3rd double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit realizes the urgency Minnesota needs to have going forward. The Gophers had just 2 fastbreak points the entire game.
“We’ve gotta regroup and we gotta do it fast.”
“We gotta play with a lot more toughness.”
“I’d say hang with us. We’re going to continue to improve.”
The Gophers proved they can hang with some of the better teams in the Big Ten but they still need to find that next level to beat the best of the best. With this loss tonight the Gophers move to 11th place in the Big Ten standings. Iowa has won four straight games and moved into a tie with Minnesota at 6-6 in the conference.
Pressure Mounts as Gophers Enter Crucial Matchup
The Gophers will host the Indiana Hoosiers at home in Williams Arena on Sunday. The Hoosiers are one game ahead of the Gophers in a very tight middle-of-the-pack Big Ten Conference. Indiana has won three straight games and is (15-7 7-4) on the season, they are led by junior guard Yarden Garzon who’s averaging 14 points per game, shooting 41.4% from three-point range and 91.3% from the free throw line.
The Hoosiers are one of the best shooting teams in the Big Ten, so Minnesota will try and use that 3rd best defense in the Big Ten conference to force some turnovers that hopefully lead to some easy baskets.
Iowa’s Road Trip Continues with Nebraska Showdown
Iowa will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska on Monday to take on the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is one game ahead of Iowa in the standings (7-5) but have lost their last three out of four games. Nebraska and Iowa have very similar offense and defensive numbers both ranking in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.
Nebraska is led by senior Alexis Markowski and Sophomore Natalie Potts. Both players average over 14 points per game and a touch over seven rebounds. Both Iowa and Nebraska know that this is a huge game for both teams. Look for a closely contested game the whole way.
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