MINNEAPOLIS – The Iowa women’s basketball team continued its winning ways with a gritty 68-60 road victory at Minnesota on Thursday. With the win, the Hawkeyes improved to 16-7 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play and have now won four straight games.
Sydney Affolter led the charge with a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double followed by Hannah Stuelke’s 17 points and seven rebounds. Lucy Olsen came through with 14 points and seven assists as Iowa moved to 16-7 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play.
First Half
Stuelke put the Hawkeyes on the board first with the contested putback inside, a bucket that allowed her to surpass 1,000 career points. Consecutive threes from Kylie Feuerbach and Sydney Affolter extended what ended up being a 13-2 run through the first six minutes.
Minnesota scored on two straight possessions to cut the lead down to six before Iowa retaliated with five points of its own to hold an 18-7 lead after 10 minutes of play. Stuelke converted a shot at the buzzer, but it was revoked by the officials after further review.
Stuelke and Minnesota’s Amaya Battle each traded two buckets to start the second quarter, while Mallory Heyer’s three cut the Hawkeye lead down to seven. Addison O’Grady followed up with an uncontested layup to put an end to Iowa’s three-minute scoring drought.
Feuerbach, O’Grady, and Taylor Stremlow chipped into the lead, but subtle responses from the Gophers kept the score within arms reach. Stremlow’s outlet pass to Olsen led to a long pass to Affolter for a breakaway layup with two seconds to spare, giving Iowa the 32-21 advantage heading into the break.
Second Half
Lucy Olsen got the second half started for Iowa with her patent pull-up jumper from 15-feet out. Hayer’s layup and Annika Stewart’s three cut the Hawkeye lead down to single digits before Stuelke’s bucket off the fastbreak pushed it back up to 10.
Iowa failed to convert a bucket for nearly five minutes — four points off free throws in that span — while Minnesota held a three-minute scoring drought before Tori McKinney put an end to it. The Gophers’ six-point swing cut the Hawkeye lead down in half, 43-37, heading into the fourth quarter.
Stuelke reached double-digits with her and-one bucket at the cup to start the final period. After a few misses, both teams combined for six-straight makes, with Minnesota cutting the Iowa lead down to two, 49-47, with seven minutes to go.
An exchange in buckets led to a tough finish inside by Minnesota’s Grace Grocholski, knotting the score at 51 apiece — the closest margin since the score read 2-2 in the opening minutes.
Then came Stuelke again. The junior hit a free throw to take the lead and collected two buckets down the stretch to give the Hawkeyes a sizable lead. The Gophers came back with several made shots, but a pair of threes from Affolter and Taylor McCabe secured the victory for Iowa.
Up Next
Iowa will have the weekend to rest before its road matchup against Nebraska on Feb. 10. The Cornhuskers took down the Hawkeyes at home, 87-84, in an overtime battle on Jan. 16.