Kylie Feuerbach returned to action and delivered a key block in the clutch as the Iowa women’s basketball team completed a 16-point second-half comeback to defeat Indiana Sunday afternoon and remain undefeated in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes (13-2, 5-0) rode a 19-4 third-quarter run to make the contest a back-and-forth affair in what was Iowa’s lowest-scoring half of the season.
Second-years Chit-Chat Wright and Ava Heiden led the Hawkeyes with 13 points apiece, followed by a 12-point, 12-rebound performance from senior Hannah Stuelke. Feuerbach, who missed the previous three games due to injury, scored five points off the bench, including a triple in the third-quarter rally.
Indiana guard Shay Ciezki paced the Hoosiers (11-6, 0-6) with 21 points, but tallied just two in the second half as Iowa employed several traps on the senior. The Hoosiers scored just four points in the third quarter and 18 in the second half as the Hawkeyes stepped up on defense, recording 10 steals and six blocks.
Iowa took the lead for good with 2:42 remaining in the game when Wright nailed a three-pointer from the wing.
Heiden then assisted Stuelke for a lay-up to bring the lead to four points before Indiana was whistled for a five-second violation and gave Iowa possession. Hawkeye guard Taylor Stremlow made one of two free throws on the ensuing possession before Feuerbach’s outreached right hand knocked away Ciezki’s three-point attempt.
The Hawkeyes earned the defensive stop and relied on made free throws from that point on to snap their two-game losing streak to the Hoosiers and achieve the best start in Big Ten play during head coach Jan Jensen’s tenure. The start at Assembly Hall on Sunday, however, was far from ideal.
“I was surprised with how we came out,” Jensen said in her postgame interview with Big Ten Network.
Iowa made just one of its first nine attempts from the floor as Indiana rode an 14-2 run to take a 12-point advantage early in the first quarter. While both squads struggled from beyond the arc, combining for just one made triple in the first half, the Hoosiers held the edge in the rebounding department and relied on Ciezki’s scoring prowess.
The senior entered the afternoon as her team’s leading scorer and reached her average of 19 points before the halftime buzzer, connecting on 8-of-13 shots. The Hawkeyes meanwhile shot just 24 percent from the field, but amid foul trouble to Indiana’s post players, cut the lead to five after a pair of Heiden baskets and a putback from Stremlow, but the Hoosiers responded to take a 35-19 lead at the buzzer, marking Iowa’s lowest half total of the season.
“My message at halftime was to define who we are and who we want to be,” Jensen said.
Senior guard Taylor McCabe sparked Iowa’s rally, drilling one of Iowa’s just four made three-pointers on the afternoon. McCabe and Feurebach then connected on back-to-back triples to cut Indiana’s lead to one before taking the lead for the first time 1:44 to go in the third quarter off a Stuelke layup. Stuelke’s double-double was her fourth of the season and Feuerbach recorded her 5ooth career point as a Hawkeye.
Up Next
Iowa opens a two-game homestand at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, starting with Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. on FS1. The Ducks are 14-3 overall and sit in 10th place in the Big Ten with a 2-2 conference mark. Second-year guard Katie Fiso leads the team with 15.2 points per game.