The Iowa women’s basketball team showcased defensive versatility and shooting prowess in a 94-57 home win over Toledo on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes set a dominant tone early on that enabled a strong performance against the Rockets across all four quarters.
Third-year Hannah Stuelke led Iowa in scoring with 17 points, along with nine rebounds and two assists. Fourth-year Lucy Olsen and third-year Taylor McCabe followed with 14 points each, while fourth-year Sydney Affolter, returning from an injury, had 11 points, five rebounds and, along with Olsen, a team-high four assists.
While Toledo won the game’s tipoff to secure first possession, a rebound by Stuelke brought the ball and momentum into Hawkeye hands. Iowa’s first points came moments later when Affolter made two freebies from the free throw line.
While the score deadlocked at multiple intervals, the Rockets snagging an occasional slight lead early on, the Hawkeye offense kept on rolling. Stuelke put up eight points for Iowa, followed by Olsen with six, to pull away for some comfort.
“I think defense leads to offense, so us getting lots of stops was really crucial,” Stuelke said. “I think our defense was really good in that first quarter.”
The first quarter ended with the Hawkeyes holding a comfortable 28-10 lead, such strong starts vital to a Hawkeye team that has struggled historically when it starts much slower.
Fourth-year Kylie Feuerbach kept Iowa moving forward with a layup to start the second quarter. While the Hawkeyes continued a powerful offensive run, the defense barred a majority of scoring opportunities for Toledo as it dialed in at each level of the floor.
While five different players put up points in the second quarter, the Rockets found few chances to put points on the board on their own, with four shot clock violations in the quarter. Iowa also scored 21 points in the second quarter; Toledo scored 11, only one more than their first-quarter effort.
Both teams left the court to end the first half with the Hawkeyes leading 49-21.
Dominance, continued
Iowa continued its pressure on the Rockets, holding Toledo to 18 points in the third quarter while outscoring its own second-quarter effort with 22 points.
Affolter put up the first points to start this quarter, with a layup and an and-one netting five for the returning guard, while the Hawkeye defense held the Rockets scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter.
Iowa outscored Toledo for the third-consecutive quarter, going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to end its scoring for the quarter and keep a 71-39 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.
Despite the lead, starters remained in the game, and Stuelke kicked off the fourth quarter for the Hawkeyes with an and-one to add three to Iowa’s lead. With the momentum, the scoreboard, and the clock favoring the Hawkeyes, Iowa simply had to hold a substantial lead through to the end, an easier task.
Toledo continued to struggle against its opponent’s defense, resulting in another shot clock violation near the end of the game, while Iowa finished the quarter and the game with only three turnovers on offense.
“I feel like our transition is so natural that it’s easy to find each other and not make mistakes in that aspect,” McCabe said. “Our posts were also making everything a catch, which also really helps.”
When the last seconds ran off of the clock, the Hawkeyes had seized a smooth 94-57 win over the Rockets in a satisfying all-around effort that shows what happens when this team clicks.
Up next
Iowa travels to Drake on Sunday to take on the Bulldogs in their first away game on an opponent’s floor. The game is slated to receive coverage from ESPN Plus and the Hawkeye Radio Network.
“Our schedule is going to ramp up,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said. “Drake, they’re great — Kansas, Washington State, and then we’re playing Tennessee and Iowa State. We’re going to get tested every which way for a really young team, but I sure like [our] effort.”