Jaime Printy nailed a 3-pointer with 5:25 remaining in the game to give the Hawkeyes a 1-point lead. It was just the beginning of an astounding run that sealed a 71-60 victory over Wisconsin Thursday night.
Printy scored 14-straight points for the Hawkeyes in the final minutes of the game, nearly half of her game-high 29 points — 22 of which came after intermission.
“I just didn’t want to lose,” she said. “I knew we should beat this team, and we weren’t playing very well. I just didn’t want to lose. My teammates did a good job of finding me, and there were some gaps to get to the rim and get to the free-throw line.”
Printy’s shot was money all night. The senior went 8-of-10 from the floor and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. She also posted 8 rebounds and 4 assists in one of the most complete performances of her Hawkeye career.
“[Printy] is unbelievable at the free-throw line, but she did it in all areas,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “Taking it to the hoop, step-back [3-pointers], going to the free-throw line. It was in all manners that she was looking to score. I felt like she just took it upon herself at that point to ensure us we were going to get this win.”
The game hadn’t been going Iowa’s way before Printy took over the reins, though. The Hawkeyes squandered a 10-point lead at the 3:01 mark of the first half and allowed the Badgers to build a 4-point edge with 11:48 left in the game.
Wisconsin turned 15 Hawkeye turnovers into 13 points and held its own in the paint, collecting 33 rebounds. Bluder said she was disappointed with the team’s play at the start of the second half and felt the Black and Gold could have done a better job controlling the glass against a Wisconsin team that has struggled to rebound well all season.
But the Hawkeyes grabbed seemingly every rebound down the stretch.
Printy scrambled to corral a rebound and found herself in a pile-up fighting for possession with 3:30 to play. The senior somehow got the ball and called a time-out, bringing the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd to its feet. It was the kind of play she said Bluder emphasizes.
“Every loose ball is ours,” Printy said. “Little hustle plays; everything has to be ours in the last four minutes of the game. And our team did a really good job of just going out there, playing hard and playing smart.”
Sophomore point guard Sam Logic said the team took a step forward offensively Thursday night. The Hawkeyes did a better job of recognizing who had the hot hand than in past games when the offense went away from someone who was clicking early.
“The other team is going to know you want to go to [Printy], shooting lights out again today,” Logic said. “But when someone’s clicking, it’s happening. And we’re better now about seeing who’s making her shots, who’s on a hot streak, and getting her the ball.
“That’s another learning point we’ve seen — getting the person her shots when she’s hot.”