Iowa women’s basketball lost a close game to No. 23 Northwestern on Thursday night, 80-87. The Hawkeyes now sit at 9-4 on the season and 5-4 in Big Ten play.

Junior center Monika Czinano scored the first six points of the game for the Hawkeyes, but the Wildcats went on two separate 6-0 runs in the first quarter to hold a 21-16 lead on the Hawkeyes after the first ten minutes of action. 

The first quarter saw Iowa turn the ball over eight times and go nearly three minutes without a bucket.

The Hawkeyes battled back in the second quarter, supplemented by a three-and-a-half minute Northwestern scoring drought. With 4:53 remaining in the first half, the Hawkeyes had cut the deficit to one, 24-23.

Eventually, Northwestern got out of its shooting slump, leading, 33-29, at halftime.

Of Iowa’s 29 points, Czinano was responsible for 16

The Hawkeyes heated up in the second half, with Clark starting the first 45 seconds of the third quarter with six consecutive points for Iowa, tying the game at 35. Kate Martin made a layup soon after to give Iowa its first lead of the game.

Iowa’s 11-0 scoring run to start the third quarter led Northwestern to take a timeout with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter. The Hawkeyes continued on a 19-6 run against the Wildcats, and at the 4:27 mark in the third, Iowa led, 48-41.

Gallery • 24 Photos

Casey Stone

The Iowa Hawkeyes watch a video on the score board before their game against Northwestern on Jan. 28, 2021 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Northwestern defeated Iowa 87-80

The Wildcats did stage their own comeback near the end of the third quarter, overtaking the lead, 55-54, with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Iowa and Northwestern traded the lead to end the third, and after 30 minutes of play, Northwestern led, 57-56.

Iowa overtook the lead again at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a Czinano layup. Czinano proceeded to score four consecutive points to extend Iowa’s lead to three.

Czinano didn’t miss her first shot of the night until she took her 16th attempt with just under seven minutes remaining in the game.

At the 6:40 mark in the fourth quarter, Iowa led, 64-61. But, the Hawkeyes began to lose steam and trailed, 71-69, with 3:31 remaining in the game.

It was a two-possession game at the 1:16 mark as Northwestern led, 79-75.

After Clark turned the ball over with one minute left in the game, Northwestern extended its lead to eight points, 83-75.

Despite fouling efforts by Iowa in the game’s final minutes, Northwestern overtook the Hawkeyes, 87-80.

Czinano registered a career-high night with 34 points on 17-of-19 shooting. She also added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Caitlin Clark notched 23 points and eight assists by the time the final buzzer sounded.

The Hawkeyes head to Minneapolis this weekend to take on the Golden Gophers on Sunday at 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on BTN+.