Entering Thursday, Iowa was on a three-game skid and its dream-like season seemed to be going down the drain.
Instead of flaking out for the fourth time in a row, Iowa prevailed, knocking off No. 8 Ohio State, 103-89, in Carver-Hawkeye.
Though she didn’t earn her typical double-double, Megan Gustafson led the Hawkeyes with a game-high 29 points and 5 rebounds and was 11-of-14 from the free-throw line.
Kathleen Doyle and Chase Coley pitched in with the double-doubles this time around. Doyle chipped in 25 points and dished out 11 assists — a career-high for the sophomore guard — and Coley finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, her first double-double of the season.
“Megan was Megan, but everybody, I thought, contributed,” head coach Lisa Bluder said.
Bluder had been preaching for the past couple weeks that the team needed production from everyone, not just Gustafson.
Makenzie Meyer had 18 points and drained four 3-pointers while also connecting on all six of her free-throw attempts.
“It’s tremendous to have that [Meyer back],” Bluder said. “When she hit that first one, I was so happy. It felt so good to get that 3-point shooting back again.”
The Hawkeyes got off to fast start. With a little under four minutes left in the first quarter, Iowa led, 22-8, and everything seemed to click. The Buckeyes proceeded to storm back, closing the gap to 5 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Ohio State continued to narrow the gap in the second quarter, but Amanda Ollinger provided a spark off the bench and went on her own 4-0 run to put in an end to the Buckeye run, forcing Ohio State to call a timeout.
With 13 seconds left in the third quarter, Ohio State was once again within 5, and the momentum seemed to shift in the Buckeyes’ direction.
Doyle then dribbled up the court and hit a contested 3 to give her team an 8-point cushion, sending Hawkeye fans into a frenzy.
“We just stayed confident in ourselves,” Doyle said. “We made sure we believed in our self every shot during practice and taking extra shots after practice just to get that confidence back.”
The Buckeyes (16-5, 5-3 Big Ten) have now dropped their last three contests — all coming against ranked conference opponents.
Head coach Kevin McGuff received a technical foul early in the first quarter after arguing a no-foul call. Ohio State had two of their key players — Stephanie Mavunga and Makayla Waterman — foul out, and the Buckeyes committed 25 fouls in total.
High-scoring guard Kelsey Mitchell dropped 26 points for Ohio State, Linnae Harper had 17 and Mavunga followed with 15.
The Hawkeyes (16-5, 4-4 Big Ten) will stay home for their next matchup, Jan. 28 against Nebraska. Iowa lost its last meeting with the Cornhuskers in Lincoln on Jan. 16, 74-65.
“We’re anxious to get back at Nebraska,” Bluder said. “We just played them a week ago, so it’s fresh in our minds. They’re playing really well, they’re a good team. But we play them on our home floor.”
