By Michael McCurdy
Sometimes in sports, there are special cases when moral victories are possible even when teams come away in defeat. On Jan. 14, the Iowa women’s basketball team battled and battled until No. 3 Maryland pulled away to ultimately win the game by a score of 98-82.
That Terrapin team has the talent to compete with the best the of the best and the Hawkeyes know that, which is why instead of leaving Carver-Hawkeye Arena in anguish the girls rallied by obtaining a new sense of confidence — one with the ability to ignite a fire in the Hawkeyes capable of producing their first Big Ten road win of the season against Rutgers on Tuesday.
After a close first half, the Hawkeyes opened up the floodgates and cruised to a convincing victory, 71-59. Many factors played a role in the victory, but none were more important than the efficiency and patience the Hawkeyes displayed on offense.
Hard to lose when you shoot 62.5 percent
On Monday, the preview for the matchup between Rutgers and Iowa discussed the recent road Big Ten woes the Hawkeyes have endured so far this season. The fact was Iowa was simply not getting the job done offensively, scoring under 70 points in each road game.
The Hawkeyes could fix their offensive woes on the road in two ways, either shoot the three ball better on a consistent basis, or work the ball around to get higher percentage shots.
For this contest, the Hawkeyes chose to work the ball more and let the game come to them. Shooting 62.5 percent on field goals is an incredible feat, and what’s even more impressive is 17 of the Hawkeyes’ 25 field goals were assisted on.
In the third quarter, sophomore guard Tania Davis attacked Rutgers full court press without forcing the issue, and she was able to break it with ease igniting a third quarter barrage of points where Iowa didn’t miss one field goal. As a result, Davis was able to find wide-open Hawkeyes underneath the basket for easy layups giving her 4 assists on the night.
She wasn’t the only Iowa guard to decipher the Rutgers press in the second half, as freshman guard Kathleen Doyle reciprocated Davis’s attack mindset and in doing so she found junior Chase Coley and sophomore Hannah Stewart for wide open layups giving her 5 assists for the game.
Disterhoft has been absent on the road
In Iowa’s first two Big Ten road games the bench was nowhere to be found, combining for 15 total points. That is simply not going to get the job done, especially when Iowa’s star player Ally Disterhoft on the road in Big Ten play is shooting 8-29 on field goals.
The Hawkeyes need to produce offense elsewhere when Disterhoft is off her game, and on a promising note the bench came out of the woodworks against Rutgers combining for 18 points.
Coley was able to finish strong around the rim, something she struggles with at times, especially when playing against physical players. She accumulated 8 points for the night along with Stewart who also finished with 8 points.
Disterhoft has historically been good on the road, so it’s not likely she’ll underperform on the road for the remainder of the season. But if the Hawkeyes want to climb back up the Big Ten ladder and stay permanently, they cannot rely on Disterhoft’s offensive production night in and night out. Someone off the bench must contribute in any way. It does not have to be points, it can be defensive intensity, hitting the open man, or rebounding.
