After trailing by much as 15, the Iowa women’s basketball had a near-record setting second half to pull an 86-75 win at Northwestern on Sunday in Evanston, Ill..

The Hawkeyes (19-7, 7-6) scored 65 points in the second half, just 2 points shy of the school record set in 2000. Senior Kachine Alexander posted 19 of her 22 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds. Junior Kelly Krei added 20 points.

Trying to further improve their conference record, the Wildcats (16-10, 5-8) got off to a quick start from the tip, leading almost the entire first half. But Iowa — trying to improve upon its Big Ten Tournament seeding — avoided the letdown by shooting 70.4 percent in the second half.

As a team, head coach Lisa Bluder’s squad shot 50 percent from beyond the arc.

“I thought when we pushed the ball, we were much more effective,” she said. “I think we wore them down, got some good high-percentage shots, and when the 3s are falling, we do a lot better.”

— by Matt Cozzi