The Hawks shot lights out, but couldn’t make the most of their possessions to come away with a victory.

By Sean Bock
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Rarely does a 61 percent shooting performance result in a loss.

But on Wednesday night in Carver-Hawkeye, that was the case for the Iowa women’s basketball team, as it fell to No. 13 Florida State, 94-93, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

The game was close throughout, but the Hawkeyes started to gain some momentum and grabbed a 12-point lead with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter — their largest lead of the night.

But the Seminoles proceeded to go on an 11-0 run and made seven of their eight final shots to avoid the upset.

“These are the games we want to play because this makes us better, and we see what we need to work on,” senior forward Chase Coley said. “I’m so proud of them; we worked really hard tonight. No one should hang their heads on this game.”

Megan Gustafson had her way inside, finishing with 34 points and 9 rebounds on 15-of-18 shooting from the field. Florida State made it a priority to double-team Gustafson as the game went on, but Iowa kept finding ways to pound it inside, resulting in easy buckets.

The Hawkeyes shot 93 percent from the floor in the first quarter and made 14-consecutive shots, giving them a 6-point lead after the first period.

Tania Davis held her own against the potent Seminole backcourt, scoring 14 points and dishing out 5 assists. Kathleen Doyle had 13 points and 6 assists, along with 7 turnovers. Her most significant miscue of the night came in the final minute, which gave Florida State some cushion.

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Coming off the bench, Alexis Sevillian had 14 points and was 3-of-5 from 3.

The story of the night was turnovers. Iowa coughed the ball up 21 times, compared with the Seminoles’ 7.

Shakayla Thomas was a matchup nightmare for the Hawkeyes. The senior forward scored a team-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She came up big in crunch time, hitting a couple of baskets down the stretch.

“I think in the second half she went off,” Gustafson said. “She’s strong, and she’s able to finish right around the rim. We’re able to defend that, but I think we just got to step it up and make sure we do that down the stretch.”

Imani Wright also gave Iowa problems, as she chipped in 26 points and wasn’t afraid to shoot from deep. She was 7-of-17 from behind the arc.

Another issue for the Hawkeyes was keeping their opponent off the glass.

The Seminoles were relentless on the offensive boards, reeling in 19 offensive rebounds, which made up half of their rebounding total.

“I’m a little more disappointed in our offensive rebounds,” Bluder said. “We only got 21 percent of offensive rebounds; we only got 5. Those are second opportunities. Those are easy buckets on offensive rebounds, so that’s a little frustrating for me.”

Iowa (7-1) will return to action on Dec. 3 against Samford at 2 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye.

“I hope they feel they like they gained confidence,” Bluder said. “We led the No. 13 team for almost 31 minutes. They’re an experienced team, and we played them right down to the end. I think there’s a lot from this game, and there’s certainly a lot that we can gain.”