Panic was nowhere to be found when Iowa women’s basketball saw setbacks in its matchup with Rutgers tonight.

The Hawkeyes saw a 20-point lead slip away as a gritty Rutgers defensive kept down Megan Gustafson. But Iowa never lost its composure on its way to take down Rutgers, 72-67.

The first quarter of the semi-final gave Gustafson one of her lowest shooting percentages of the season. The senior –– who leads the country in field-goal percentage –– was held to 1-for-7 in the opening moments of the game. The Rutgers players, led by Stasha Carey, were simply ruthless in the paint as they battled the Big Ten Player of the Year.

But leadership and control from senior Hannah Stewart and junior Makenzie Meyer helped Iowa leap out to a 20-point lead. Meyer –– still on fire after a solid shooting performance in the win over Indiana –– knocked down her first two 3-pointers of the game. Stewart –– who also had a strong showing yesterday –– said she was feeling her jumper in the win over Rutgers despite a quiet outing from Gustafson.

“I was feeling it a little bit in the game yesterday, so today I knew that I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from taking those shots, especially when Megan wasn’t hitting as much as she usually does,” said Stewart. “But we also knew that the odds were in our favor when we’re up 10 and Megan goes 1-or-7 in the first couple minutes, like obviously she’s going to come back and have a million points.”

Iowa held onto that strong lead all the way into the third quarter, until Rutgers –– led by a 16-point outing from Arella Guirantes –– whittled the Hawkeye lead down to a 3-point margin. It seemed to be a blown lead in a nightmare-type scenario, but this time senior Tania Davis knocked down a much-needed jumper from beyond the arc.

But even more important than her clutch shooting, head coach Lisa Bluder said, was Davis’ leadership down the stretch.

“[The players] have so much faith in what [Davis is] saying to them and how she’s bringing them together,” Bluder said. “And she is very good at that. She’s very calm, and when she talks, you just believe her.”

Many tough situations attacked Iowa this season: injuries to guards, defensive strategies set to bring down Gustafson, and now a blown lead in the semi-final in the Big Ten Tournament. But composure and leadership from all over the court have been there to answer.

“This team has really good composure,” Bluder said. “And I think when you have good leadership, when you have good seniors, experience, been around the block a little bit, they can handle those situations a little bit better.”

It’s easy to think that these personality traits help a team survive deep into the month of March. Iowa has proven its grit and intent in this tournament, but it has been doing this all year; the only thing left to do is cut down the net.

Iowa takes on Maryland in the Big Ten Championship tomorrow, where all of this will be put to the team’s biggest test yet.