The Iowa women’s basketball team survived a late comeback from Northwestern to pull out a victory Monday night in Evanston, Illinois. The Hawkeyes’ 67-58 win kept them undefeated in Big Ten play. Second-year center Ava Heiden scored a team-high 23 points while second-year guard Chit-Chat Wright added 12 as the only two Iowa players to score in double figures. Heiden shot 9-of-11 from the floor but the team finished with just a 44 percent mark.
Northwestern dropped to 6-9 overall and 0-4 in conference but battled throughout much of the contest against a nationally-ranked Iowa squad. The Wildcats led, 29-26, late in the first half before Iowa guard Taylor Stremlow knocked down a jumper, Wright sunk two free throws, and forward Hannah Stuelke cashed a layup at the buzzer for the Hawkeyes to take a three-point advantage into the break.
The home team continued its back-and-forth affair as Grace Sullivan, who scored a game-high 28 points, knotted the match at 37 apiece with a layup. A pair of free throws from teammate Tanya Thomas again tied the game at 44 with 1:49 to go in the third quarter before Iowa found its groove. Heiden scored the next six points to close out the frame.
The Iowa lead grew to as many as nine in the fourth quarter off a three-pointer from Taylor McCabe, who finished with eight points.
The Wildcats wouldn’t relent, however, as they connected on back-to-back triples, two of just five made beyond the arc for the evening, to cut the deficit to four with just under a minute to go in the contest. The Hawkeyes pulled away at the foul line, making five of their final six attempts from the charity stripe. Iowa finished the game 20-of-29 in the free throw department.
Wright finished with a team-high seven assists while first-years Addie Deal and Journey Houston continued their solid contributions off the bench. The duo scored all nine of Iowa’s bench points and shot 4-of-10 from the floor.
The Hawkeyes held the Wildcats to 36 percent shooting from the floor as Wright collected a team-high three steals as part of 16 Northwestern turnovers.
Senior guard Kylie Fuerebach did play for the third consecutive game due to an ankle injury.
Up Next
Iowa’s road trip continues with a visit to Indiana on Sunday, Jan. 11, in Bloomington. The contest begins at 4 p.m. Central Time on Big Ten Network. The Hoosiers are 11-5 overall but winless against Big Ten opponents and losers of their last three contests, all by at least a 15 point margin. Senior guard Shay Ciezki leads Indiana with 22.8 points and 3.1 assists per game.