By Michael McCurdy
The Iowa women’s basketball team came out of the gates hot in its first road test of the season. The Hawkeyes visited an 0-2 North Dakota squad that was hungry to snag its first win of the season at home, but Iowa came away with the victory, 75-60.
The Hawkeyes got going early on thanks to the play of sophomore power forward Megan Gustafson. She scored the game’s first two buckets, and from there the Hawkeyes did not slow down. By the end of the first quarter, they had increased the lead to 24-15.
North Dakota calmed down and settled in for the second quarter. Even with a poor 3-point shooting performance, North Dakota got back in the game thanks to its ability to attack the basket and, as a result, head to the free-throw line.
Iowa struggled offensively in the second quarter, scoring only 17 points after pouring in 25 in the first quarter. The offensive production emerged later in the quarter thanks to the quality bench production of sophomore Hannah Stewart. Her ability to finish at the rim kept Iowa’s lead at 9 points going into halftime.
Before the third quarter, though, the Hawkeyes had to regroup and try to focus on getting the ball back inside to Gustafson. Once the second half started, Iowa’s plan was shot down when Gustafson picked up her third foul and heading to the bench.
As a result, North Dakota started the second half on a 9-0 run, tying the game and forcing Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder to call a time-out in an effort to get the Hawkeyes refocused.
In the following minutes, Iowa jumped ahead on a 7-2 run. From that point on, Iowa gradually increased the lead to end the game up by 15 points.
Senior Ally Disterhoft was the leading scorer for the Hawkeyes, dropping 20 points. Gustafson was next, tacking on 12 more.
One of the main reasons Iowa came away victorious was the high-energy bench production led by Stewart and freshman Kathleen Doyle. Doyle was third on the team in points with 11, a career high. The bench outscored North Dakota’s by a total of 30-26, proving Bluder was not kidding when she said before the season started that the team has depth.
The Hawkeyes will be back in action on Saturday in the Hawkeye Challenge; they will host Massachusetts at 12:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye.
