Iowa women’s basketball put on a defensive clinic, holding Washington State to 27 percent shooting and 20 turnovers in the 72-43 home victory on Sunday.
Such a defensive effort inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been and will be crucial to the Hawkeyes’ success this year as, now 6-0, they continue to show the collegiate women’s basketball world they can compete.
Hawkeye guard Lucy Olsen finished with a game-high 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Center Addison O’Grady continued to arrive into her own role as she logged 14 points and seven rebounds — followed up by forward Hannah Stuelke’s 11 points and six rebounds.
Washington State converted the second-chance opportunity in its first offensive trip to open the game, but Iowa followed up with a 9-0 run, led by O’Grady’s three buckets at the cup. The Cougars came back with three-straight scoring possessions to cut the Iowa lead to 11-9 through five minutes.
The Hawkeyes offensive struggled progressed after the first timeout — going on a near-three-minute scoring drought while hitting just two of their last 12 shots of the period. The Cougars hit seven of their last nine on offense as they held the 19-18 lead heading into the second quarter.
But the Hawkeyes put an end to that right there.
Olsen hit two mid-range pull-up jumpers, and guard Sydney Affolter hit an inside shot, to give the Hawkeyes some life on offense into the second. Stuelke’s relentlessness on the glass led to a put-back finish and warranted a Cougars timeout after the eight-point swing.
IT’S LOUD IN HERE ‼️@StremlowTaylor x @StuelkeHannah #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/rx7xGUUZOJ
— Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB) November 24, 2024
Stuelke and center Ava Heiden logged a basket each, and while the Iowa offense cooled down after the six-minute stretch, its defense held Washington State to 1-of-9 shooting and five turnovers over the last 5:32 to hold a 38-23 lead through two quarters.
Keeping it going
Olsen made consecutive jumpers in the first two trips down the floor to get the third quarter started for Iowa. The two teams traded a bucket each before Stuelke’s strong bucket inside gave Iowa its first 20-point lead of the game, 46-25.
Defense continued to be the theme of the contest — Washington State going through another extended scoring drought of over four minutes as the Hawkeyes seriously restricted the Cougars from coming back. A big part of that defense is first-year Taylor Stremlow, flying in for the block on the perimeter to highlight the third quarter.
Nahhhhhh. @StremlowTaylor x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/n5etkqnQSb
— Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB) November 24, 2024
Iowa scored five points through the last four minutes of the quarter and held a 55-28 lead through 30 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter began the same way as the third — two Olsen buckets inside on consecutive possessions. O’Grady and Affolter scored a bucket each, followed by a slick post dime from O’Grady to a cutting Affolter to put Iowa up, 65-31, with 5:43 left to play.
The Iowa starters walked off the court to a standing ovation from the Hawkeye faithful at the next dead ball. One of the substitutions in was first-year Aaliyah Guyton, who scored her first points as a Hawkeye at the line.
Both teams traded buckets as Iowa cruised to the 72-43 victory and improved to 6-0 on the season.
Up next
The Hawkeyes take a trip to Cancun, Mexico, for two games — Rhode Island on Thanksgiving and BYU the next day.
The Rams are 4-3 this season as the Cougars are 5-1 with a shaky loss to Northern Colorado, giving the Black and Gold a very look at returning to Iowa City still undefeated.