The Iowa women’s basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to Louisville last week to avenge a loss from last year, defeating Colorado, 78-63, on Sunday.

Bethany Doolittle scored the first 4 points of the game for the Hawkeyes, and when Melissa Dixon made her first 3-point attempt to take a 7-6 lead, she matched her total from last week’s loss to Louisville.

Dixon started the game 2-of-3, and Ally Disterhoft also had a hand-down-man-down 3 of her own that put Iowa ahead, 20-17. The team’s improved shooting compared with its game against Louisville is what fueled the Hawkeyes, but their continued lack of rebounding kept it close.

Colorado held a 22-14 rebounding advantage with 3:39 remaining in the first half, so despite shooting only 35 percent from the field, it was able to make enough shots to keep it close. The Buffaloes’ second 3 of the game cut the Iowa lead to 27-26 and prompted a Lisa Bluder time-out.

Bluder’s squad kept making shots, however, and Dixon in particular carried the team to a 35-28 lead at halftime.

Dixon led with 13 points on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Disterhoft had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Doolittle led with six boards.

Dixon started the second half with another 3 to take a 10-point lead, and the Hawkeyes spent much of the early part of the half maintaining that cushion. After yet another 3 from Dixon – this time banked off the glass from straight away, put the Hawks ahead 50-38 just under the 15-minute mark, and Colorado had to call a time-out of its own.

“We did not play well at all at Louisville. Our focus was to bounce back today and really take it to Colorado,” Dixon said. “We had a lot of focus in the two practices leading up to today’s game, and throughout the entire game, I felt like we were in control.”

The Buffaloes gave Iowa fits at times throughout the afternoon with their physicality, but by the 10-minute mark, the Hawkeyes seemed to have survived the worst of it and began to pull away.

Sam Logic and Claire Till both had brief injury scares, but with five minutes to go, everyone was standing, and Iowa still held a 13-point advantage at 67-54. That grew to 15 after Logic converted on a pair of technical free throws.

Colorado had one final spurt of made shots and a full-court press to make Iowa finish, but the team came prepared and didn’t waver down the stretch.

“We had two really intense, focused practices preparing us for today, and I thought we were in control for most of this game,” Bluder said. “I think they got their swagger back; they looked confident.”

Dixon was the leading scorer with 23, while Bethany Doolittle held it down in the paint with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Disterhoft finished with 15 points and 8 boards.

“This does a lot for our confidence right now,” Doolittle said. “Just to know that we can come back from a game like Louisville and bounce back to focus on what Iowa basketball is all about — that shows the character of this team.”

Follow @KyleFMann on Twitter for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa women’s basketball team.