NORMAN, Okla. – The sixth-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team blew by 11th-seeded Murray State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, nabbing a 92-57 win over the Racers Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. 

The contest saw five Hawkeyes score in double figures, including a double-double of 12 points and 12 assists from fourth-year Lucy Olsen and a 15-point effort from leading scorer and first-year Ava Heiden.

The loss was Murray State’s first since Feb. 13, snapping a 10-game winning streak and marking the Racers’ lowest point total of the season. Murray State entered the contest as the nation’s top scoring offense. Second-year guard Halli Poock led the team with 15 points. 

First Half

Murray State set a fast tempo early on in the contest, nabbing an early 6-2 lead and drawing two personal fouls from third-year Hannah Stuelke. However, with the arrival of Heiden to replace Stuelke, Iowa gathered significant momentum to pull ahead.

Heiden tied the game at six apiece with an offensive board in the first quarter, before fourth-year Sydney Affolter drove in a layup to give the Hawkeyes their first lead of the day. 

Leading 10-6 halfway through the first quarter, fourth-year Kylie Feuerbach knocked a loose ball into the hands of Olsen, who took it all the way down the court to assist the 6-foot-4 Heiden in nabbing another two points.

“I think with any team, it’s just the next man up,” Heiden said the postgame press conference. “It’s always being ready on the bench, ready to come off and do well and perform for the team.”

These shots came together as part of a 13-0 run that Iowa enjoyed in just over two minutes, before a bucket by the Racers closed the gap to 15-8. Despite Murray State possessing the highest-scoring offense in the nation, the Hawkeye defense largely held, even drawing a shot clock violation before the first quarter came to a close. 

Iowa’s last points, courtesy of a trey from first-year Taylor Stremlow, left it clutching an 18-12 lead progressing deeper into the half.

As the Racers started to heat up, starting the second quarter with a quick layup, Stremlow caught a pass on the outside from Olsen. The arena erupted as the first-year guard stepped back and splashed in her second three of the day to put the Hawkeyes back up by seven.

“I think we just played really well off each other,” Stremlow said after the contest. “I got some open looks, so that definitely helped us too.

Despite Murray State going from 12 points in the first quarter to 18 in the second, timely shooting from Heiden in the paint kept Iowa up, and the first-year reached 13 points before a third personal foul sidelined her for the remainder of the half.

Ultimately, the Hawkeyes outscored the Racers again by six points, this time in the second quarter, 24-18. With the seconds ticking away, jumpers by Stremlow and first-year Aaliyah Guyton gave Iowa the 42-30 lead going into the game’s back half.

Second Half

Things took a drastic turn for Murray State in the second half with a rough landing by fifth-year Katelyn Young, who suffered an injury and was did not return to the game. Young entered the contest with more than 3,000 career points, The forward’s six points on Saturday placed 14th all-time in Division I women’s basketball. 

While the Racers fought hard without their starting forward, the Hawkeyes’ defense limited opportunities to get shots off, resulting in a scoring drought for nearly three minutes in the third quarter, during which Iowa saw a nine-point run.

With just over five minutes left in the third quarter, at which point the Hawkeyes had already gone 7-for-9 in field goal shooting in the half, Stremlow, from under the hoop, fed a pass back to Affolter, who knocked in a three to grow the Iowa lead to 26 points.

“They make it really easy,” Stremlow said. “It’s fun to score, obviously, but being able to make the extra pass, and I think we had our most assists in an NCAA game ever, that just shows how special this team is and how much we love to share the ball and support each other.”

Iowa continued to dominate under the hoop, with Stuelke, Guyton, and Affolter all putting up layups within a minute. By the time the fourth quarter came around, the Hawkeyes held a massive 72-40 lead, allowing for several substitutions.

With an 82-45 lead and just under five minutes left in the game, third-year Jada Gyamfi, facing pressure under the hoop, passed the rock off to fourth-year Addison O’Grady, who put it up for two of her four points of the day.

When fourth-year AJ Ediger and Gyamfi each scored within a minute of each other, all eyes looked to first-year Callie Levin to see if Miss Iowa Basketball would put up her first career points. When Levin did so, every eligible Iowa player had scored. 

The last seconds ran off the clock with the Hawkeyes up by 35 points, giving Iowa the 92-57 victory to advance to the second round.

Up next

The Hawkeyes are slated to play the winner of the contest between third-seeded Oklahoma and 14th-seeded FGCU. The second round game will take place on Monday, with a time to be determined. 

“I’m really thankful,” Jensen said during a press conference. “It’s really special to be in the NCAA tournament, and we’ve just had so many people step up at different times this year.”