By Michael McCurdy
The Iowa women’s basketball team has had seven true road games this season. So far, it has won two — Jan. 17 at Rutgers and Nov. 16 at North Dakota.
On Sunday afternoon, it had an opportunity to win its third road game in eight tries and earn a major résumé-booster when it traveled to take on Michigan (19-5).
After leading for 32 minutes of the game, the Hawkeyes became complacent on offense and eventually gave the lead back to the Wolverines. As a result, the Hawkeyes were outscored 20-9 in the fourth quarter and ultimately lost in the final minute, 72-70.
For most of the game, the Hawkeyes played some of their best basketball of the season. At halftime, they led by 12 points, 45-33, because of their focused effort to out-rebound Michigan and get the ball inside to sophomore Megan Gustafson.
“We played three good quarters of basketball, but in the fourth quarter, we struggled scoring against Michigan’s zone,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in a release. “We came in here, battled with them, and beat them for most of the game. We did a lot of great things, but unfortunately, a loss is a loss.”
Gustafson led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 23 points, going 9-of-16 in field goals. Senior leader Ally Disterhoft came in second with 14 points, but went 0-of-4 from the 3-point line, an area she’s struggled with all season at on the road.
In the past two games, Gustafson and Disterhoft have led Iowa in scoring and have done it without much support. Against Michigan, sophomore point guard Tania Davis went 4-of-11 in field goals, tallying 11 points, the only other Hawkeye to score in double figures.
In Ann Arbor, the Iowa bench combined for a feeble 12 points, a direct link why the Hawkeyes were outscored 39-25 in the second half.
Because Gustafson bullied the Wolverines down low in the first half, they keyed in on her for the last 20 minutes, and no one was able to step up for the Hawkeyes. Michigan played zone on defense and in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes were unable to hit the open 3s.
“We did a lot of good things,” Bluder said in the release. “Offensively, we rebounded, and we took care of the ball, but we just couldn’t score enough points in the fourth quarter.”
Another reason that the Hawkeyes struggled offensively in the fourth quarter was their starting point guard; Davis left the game with an injury, giving the reins of the offense to freshman Kathleen Doyle. With the game on the line and the stakes high, Doyle fouled out with 1:57 left remaining, which made coming away with a victory more difficult.
Word is not out yet on the status of the injury and whether Davis will be ready for Iowa’s next contest, Thursday at 6 p.m. against Michigan State in Carver-Hawkeye. The Hawkeyes now sit at 14-9, 5-5 in the Big Ten.
“Hopefully, we’ll come back against Michigan State on Thursday and get a split with the Michigan schools,” Bluder said in the release.