The Iowa women’s basketball team clinched a dominating 71-52 win over Virginia Tech in the Ally Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday. With the win, Iowa improves to 2-0 on the young season.
Fourth-year guard Lucy Olsen led the way for the Hawkeyes with 20 points, six rebounds, and four assists, with center Addison O’Grady closely following with 18 points. Forward Hannah Stuelke logged 16 points and seven rebounds and recorded a team-high 39 minutes of action.
1st Quarter
Third-year Taylor McCabe got the Hawkeyes on the board with a catch-and-shoot three, followed by a spinning contested layup by Hannah Stuelke. Virginia Tech knotted the score at five apiece before Olsen’s personal 8-0 run gave Iowa the early advantage.
The Hokies’ Rose Micheaux made consecutive shots at the cup to cut the Hawkeye lead to one, but Iowa came back with a 10-0 run led by Stuelke’s six points to extend the lead to 24-16 with just over a minute left in the quarter.
The Iowa lead was pushed to 10 points near the end of the frame after Taylor Stremlow buried a second-chance bucket at the buzzer to give the Hawks a 26-16 lead after one.
2nd Quarter
Following a few defensive stops on the opposite end of the floor, Olsen cashed the mid-range shot for Iowa’s first points of the period. After the basket, Olsen blocked Virginia Tech’s Carleigh Wenzel’s shot inside and pushed the ball down the floor, setting up O’Grady inside for an easy score.
The senior continued to control the game with a go-ahead pass to Stuelke for a breakaway layup and knocked in a jumper from the elbow to put the Hawkeyes up, 34-23, with 2:55 remaining in the quarter.
The Hokies responded with a 7-0 run to end the quarter, but Iowa held on to a 34-30 lead at the half despite shooting 4-for-15 in the frame.
3rd Quarter
During the opening minute of the quarter, Kylie Feuerbach drove by the Hokies defense for her first points of the contest. Olsen and Stuelke made one and missed one shot at the stripe while Micheaux, Wenzel and Samyha Suffren hit buckets inside the arc to keep Virginia Tech in the game.
Scoring contributions from Feuerbach, O’Grady, and Stuelke broke the cold streak on offense, and Sydney Affolter’s quick trigger three from the corner pushed the Hawkeye lead to 48-38 with four minutes remaining in the third.
Olsen and O’Grady traded buckets in the paint to cap off a 15-2 Iowa run and headed into the fourth quarter with a 56-40 lead.
4th Quarter
O’Grady upped her scoring total to 12 with another slick bucket at the rim, and Stuelke added a layup to give the Black and Gold a 20-point lead, their largest of the game. But the Hokies refused to let up, scoring seven unanswered points to cut the score to 60-47 with six minutes to go.
Both teams went over two minutes without a bucket before Feuerbach’s free throws broke the ice. O’Gradey and Olsen converted four straight buckets inside and the game was all but over, and Iowa cruised to victory.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Nov. 13 for a matchup against Toledo, who enters the contest fresh off a season-opening win over Marshall.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m with media coverage from the Big Ten Network and the Hawkeye Radio Network.