INDIANAPOLIS — Not every squad is comfortable rolling around in the basketball mud, grinding through each possession with an unwavering defensive intensity that spearheads success.
Jan Jensen’s Hawkeyes certainly are.
It was on display again in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal, where No. 2 seed Iowa women’s basketball slogged through its second grueling affair against No. 3 seed Michigan in less than two weeks. The result inside Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, March 7, mirrored the one in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, as Iowa used a fourth-quarter charge en route to a 59-42 victory.
The win propels Jensen’s squad into Sunday’s championship, with another date with top-seed UCLA looming at 1:15 p.m. CT on March 8. The relentless defensive energy Iowa has shown all year has clearly made the postseason trip.
There were noteworthy numbers all over the final box score of Iowa’s semifinal win. Here are five figures that stood out.
15…as in Michigan scored just 15 fourth-quarter points total in two games against Iowa
Trailing by one entering the fourth, Iowa could’ve let its offensive frustration overwhelm and prevent a productive finish. The Hawkeyes had just come off an extended drought when they produced just two points over the third quarter’s final seven minutes. Dialed-in mental toughness was the only way Iowa was getting across the finish line.
But that’s what these Hawkeyes have come to expect. Defensive reliability has been this team’s most consistent asset, and it showed up in winning time with authority yet again.
In holding Michigan to 1-for-9 shooting with six points in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes morphed a seesawing affair into something much more impressive. That blueprint was on display in the first Iowa-Michigan matchup as well, where the Hawkeyes yielded just nine fourth-quarter points en route to a 62-44 win.
In 20 fourth-quarter minutes against Iowa, the Wolverines delivered this dismal stat line: 4-for-22 shooting, 1-for-10 from deep, 10 turnovers, 15 points. That’s putting your most elite asset on display when the action calls for it most.
“We were really locked in,” sixth-year guard Kylie Feuerbach said. “They have so many good guards, so many good posts. Knowing the scout, we obviously played them not too long ago. Fixing up on some things we knew we could win. So staying locked in, next possession, focused.”
11…as in Michigan averaged under 11 points per quarter against Iowa this season
As was the case in Iowa City, where Michigan coughed it up 11 times in the opening quarter, Iowa’s defense had the Wolverines rattled from the jump Saturday. Michigan’s scoring drought of nearly four minutes to open the game set a firm tone that nothing was coming easy.
“Just communication, that’s the biggest thing on defense,” freshman Journey Houston said. “And defense leads to offense. We struggled with that a little bit in the third quarter. Then we flipped it, and we were ready to go.”
Even after Iowa fell behind for the first time in this tournament with 6:08 left in the third quarter, Michigan never expanded its 34-33 lead. Leading scorer Olivia Olson didn’t score over the game’s closing 16 minutes. Iowa didn’t allow a field goal to anyone over the final 4:16.
Overall, Michigan scraped out 86 points in eight quarters against the Hawkeyes this season. It’s impressive that a young group can stay that consistently dialed in on the side of the ball that isn’t the most glamorous.
4…as in Hannah Stuelke’s four field goals in the final 10 minutes helped her outscore Michigan in the fourth quarter.
It was trending toward a rough offensive day for Stuelke before she awoke just in time for something special.
Eleven of Stuelke’s 13 points arrived in the fourth quarter, a period where she finished +18 with a 4-for-6 showing from the field and a 3-for-4 effort at the line. A hard-earned and-1 with 53 seconds left produced an emphatic roar as Stuelke knew she had salvaged this day with a grand finale.
“I just want to work hard for my teammates,” Stuelke said. “They work hard for me every single day. There’s just a wall. You’ve got to push through it, get to the next play, and do anything I can just for my teammates.”
42…as in the 42 points Iowa allowed were the fewest scored by an AP top-10 team in the Big Ten Tournament since 2002
The wild thing about Iowa’s dominance over Michigan is that the Wolverines are still eyeing something special with this season. They could still be a No. 2 seed come Selection Sunday and will pose problems for numerous foes in the NCAA Tournament.
And yet, the Hawkeyes have completely demoralized them twice with a pair of suffocating efforts. The latest one generated some impressive Big Ten Tournament history.
Michigan, currently ranked 8th in the latest Associated Press poll, produced the fewest points by an AP top-10 squad in the Big Ten Tournament since No. 7 Purdue suffered a 55-41 loss to Indiana in the 2002 semifinals. That’s quite a while ago.
5…as in Iowa’s second matchup against UCLA comes exactly five weeks after the first
Once the questions died down about Iowa’s suffocating defensive effort against Michigan, the inquiries flipped to what comes next. A title-game against No. 1 seed UCLA will be a massive challenge for the Hawkeyes.
The 88-65 loss at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 1 arrived with some nuances no longer in play. That stumble came exactly one week after Taylor McCabe’s season-ending ACL tear, and the Hawkeyes clearly weren’t mentally over that. Additionally, Taylor Stremlow wasn’t in the starting lineup yet during the Los Angeles swing.
The mental refocus needed after McCabe went down has been established, as has Stremlow’s ascension now as a starting piece. Will that make a difference the second time around against this giant with national-title aspirations? Maybe not. But it’s undeniable that Iowa should be in a better spot mentally to handle the Bruins.
“I think the coaching staff has been preparing that scout ever since we lost that game,” said sophomore Ava Heiden, who’ll be tasked with slowing and navigating around Lauren Betts as much as possible. “So we’ll be ready for it. And we’ll go over the scout again to see what tweaks they want to do. But we have the belief, and everyone is tired in this tournament.”
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 5 Iowa women’s basketball numbers from Big Ten Tournament win vs Michigan
Reporting by Dargan Southard, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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