By Adam Hensley
The Iowa women’s basketball team advanced to the WNIT Elite 8 after a convincing 80-62 win over Colorado.
Alexa Kastanek found her stroke from beyond the 3-point arc, knocking down 5 triples, and Ally Disterhoft’s 15 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals fueled the Hawkeyes.
For Kastanek, her 19 points stand as a season high.“My teammates just got me open shots,” she said. “When that first one falls and you get the lid off the rim, I think that’s when you kind of just, as a shooter, know your percentages and keep shooting.”
Iowa found prime shots throughout the game thanks in part to Colorado’s aggressive defense.
Although the double-teaming and full-court press worked to the Buffaloes’ advantage during a rugged Pac-12 schedule, it worked in the Hawkeyes’ favor from the start; Iowa found itself with second chances and more time to set up an offense and work for better shots thanks to frequent fouls — Colorado’s 7 personal fouls in the first eight minutes gave Iowa initial chances at the free-throw line.
The Hawkeyes didn’t let these opportunities slip away.
Shooting 64 percent in the first quarter and 53 percent in the second, Iowa quickly pulled away from Colorado, which struggled to keep pace.
“I think we were taking really good shots,” Disterhoft said. “I think we were sharing the ball, we were looking to make the extra pass. People were [passing] up good shots for even better shots. Shooting can be contagious, especially from the 3-point line.”
The Buffaloes mustered a 39 percent shooting performance for the game and committed 18 turnovers in a frantic effort to chip away at Iowa’s lead.
Colorado only dished out 8 assists (fewer than half of its number of turnovers), while Iowa compiled 15 dimes.
Going into the game, Iowa’s focus locked in on shutting down Colorado’s Kennedy Leonard, a first-team All-Pac-12 point guard who averaged 17.4 points and almost 6 assists per game.
She finished 2-for-14 from the field, scored only 6 points, committed 4 fouls, and turned the ball over 6 times.
“We wanted to mix up our defenses and try to really make her think out there [and] not get into a rhythm” Iowa’s head coach Lisa Bluder said. “I think we just tried to really make her work hard for her points and wear her out a little bit.”
Colorado’s defense keyed in on Megan Gustafson, who recorded 33 points and 13 rebounds in the Hawkeyes’ previous win against South Dakota.
With physical defense draped on her throughout the game, Gustafson put up 12 points and 8 rebounds, but more importantly, her post presence opened up floor space for her teammates.
“I was able to kick it out to our shooters because [the defense was] collapsing inside,” she said. “I was just trying my best to be physical right back.”
Gustafson became the first Hawkeye since 1990 (and only the fourth Hawkeye in program history) to score 600-plus points in a single season.
Aside from advancing further into the WNIT, Iowa’s next game (at home at 2 p.m. March 26 against Washington State) could propel Bluder to the 700-win club — her 699th win came against the Buffaloes.