The Iowa women’s basketball team suffered its fourth-straight loss in an 87-84 overtime thriller to Nebraska inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday. The Hawkeyes led by 11 points at the halfway point of the fourth quarter, but unconscious Husker shooting allowed them to rally back and steal the game in overtime. Iowa has now lost four straight games for the first time since the 2015-16 season. 

Similar to last week’s Illinois game, free-throws again proved costly for Iowa, as they went only 16-for-29 from the charity stripe. Fourth-year guard Lucy Olsen had a rough night from the line, making only one of her six attempts. 

Forward Hannah Stuelke led the Hawkeyes with a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double, followed by guard Sydney Affolter’s 10-point, 13-rebound double-double. A total of six Hawkeyes hit double figures in scoring. 

“I think it came down, or no secret, it came down to those free throws,” head coach Jan Jensen said. “We just needed one of those to go. But I do think I saw a lot of progress, though. I thought the flow was better. I thought we were able to play a little faster. Twenty-four assists on 30 buckets is really good. That’s kind of what I like to see.”

First Half

Nebraska scored the first basket of the contest, but Taylor McCabe responded swiftly with a rare layup off the loose ball. The Cornhuskers jumped out to an 8-5 lead early before Kylie Feuerbach and Hannah Stuelke guided a 9-0 run over a two-minute period, putting the Hawkeye faithful into a frenzy. 

“I thought [playing the five] was good,” Stuelke said. “I got the ball a little bit more. I think it worked well within our offense. We’ve got to get up and down a lot faster.”

Nebraska instantly retaliated with a 14-2 run of its own behind its outside shooting, hitting four-straight threes during that span. In a quarter full of runs, the Hawkeyes came up on the short end through the first 10 minutes, trailing 26-19. 

Nebraska’s Britt Prince hit her fourth three of the game to give the Cornhuskers the double-digit lead two minutes into the second quarter. Both teams went nearly three minutes without a made basket before Taylor Stremlow converted the putback layup off the Lusy Olsen miss. 

Fueled by strong defensive play, Iowa went on two separate 7-0 runs the rest of the period. They went to Hannah Stuelke inside several times, leading to six points and causing the defense to collapse. 

Sydney Affolter logged four points, while Aaliyah Guyton’s timely three off the Kylie Feuerbach steal guided an electric run to shorten the Cornhusker lead to one point, 38-37, heading into the break. 

Second Half

Iowa took its first lead of the game since the end of the first quarter after Affolter converted the bucket inside. Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski and Jessica Petrie retaliated with consecutive shots at the cup, which were then followed by a McCabe three-ball to knot the score at 42 apiece. 

After a bit of back-and-forth action from both teams, Addison O’Grady’s six-point stretch that featured consecutive Stremlow steals and a Guyton three pushed Iowa to a 53-49 lead with three minutes to go in the third – its largest lead in over 20 minutes. Guyton converted one of two free throws at the end of the third quarter as Iowa held the five-point lead heading into the final period. 

“[Guyton] does a heck of a job,” Jensen said. “There’s a reason she was in at the end of the last game and reason she was playing tonight. She just has a really great perspective about it.”

Stuelke made the only two baskets for either team through the first three minutes in the fourth quarter: the first one at the 9:42 mark, and the second one at the 7:07 mark. But Nebraska’s Amiah Hargrove put an end to the Cornhuskers’ drought with a made layup. 

Guyton converted the layup, Feuerbach got the steal, and Olsen took the ball to the cup for the bucket to extend Iowa’s lead to 64-53 with six minutes remaining. But Nebraska’s 10-0 swing quickly cut the lead down to one in just two minutes. 

Both teams put on a scoring clinic, converting nearly every bucket put up the rest of the way. Olsen and Affolter’s nine-point swing was nearly cancelled out by Nebraska’s eight-point response. And with many opportunities to extend the lead, the Hawkeyes missed five free throws down the stretch, holding a 77-75 lead with 15 seconds remaining. 

Nebraska’s Prince was fouled by Stuelke with 2.8 remaining and converted both free throws to knot the game at 77 apiece. Guyton had a chance to win the game at the horn, but her layup rolled off the rim to send the game to overtime. 

Overtime

Nebraska made a bucket inside and two free throws, while Stuelke’s 1-for-2 trip to the line saw the Cornhuskers hold a three-point lead after one minute of extra play. Nebraska extended the lead to five after going 2-of-4 at the line on two separate trips. 

The Cornhuskers once again pushed the lead up to seven before O’Grady’s four points cut it down to three. But the Hawkeyes couldn’t overtime the deficit, making it four-straight losses for the first time since the 2015-16 season. 

“Turn the page,” Affolter said. “Obviously, that’s what we definitely would have liked to get, especially at home, but I think we battled all the way to the end.”

Up Next

Iowa will travel to Eugene, Oregon, to take on the Oregon Ducks on Jan. 19. The Ducks have won six of their last eight games, with their latest game being a 69-53 victory over Purdue on Wednesday.