IOWA CITY — For as much get-right potential as the Washington matchup had, Iowa women’s basketball needed to bring that hypothetical to life and end this extended skid.
That’s precisely what the No. 12 Hawkeyes did. Buoyed by the return of its defensive intensity inside the friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa’s 65-56 victory on Feb. 11 restored order after two-plus weeks of turbulence.
The Big Ten grind doesn’t stop, but the Hawkeyes (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten Conference) should feel like their feet are back under them heading down the stretch. A look at what stood out from the Washington win.
Iowa’s strong showing delivered a needed confidence restoration.
No one in black and gold was panicking after Iowa dropped consecutive games to USC, UCLA and Minnesota — the last of which saw the Hawkeyes stunningly torched on their home floor. But the urgency for something positive was skyrocketing.
Consider this a night of vibes restoration. No, everything didn’t flow perfectly offensively. And it took Iowa a quarter before its defensive prowess returned to action. But with a young team approaching some potentially massive moments as March inches closer, having everyone’s confidence back on track was imperative.
“I thought it was a really important game for us to come out and win and get our confidence back,” said senior Hannah Stuelke, who delivered her seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 16 rebounds. “Realizing what we can do. I felt like tonight, we were having a lot of fun no matter what the score was. It was a close game, and we were still hyped and not worried. I thought that was really good.”
Pivotal defensive belief has seemingly returned after Iowa yielded its third-fewest points in Big Ten play.
The frustration was bubbling inside coach Jan Jensen with each transition bucket surrendered.
As Washington thundered out of the gates en route to a scorching opening quarter, it looked like Iowa hadn’t fixed anything defensively. The Huskies splashed home 12 of their first 17 shots and owned a solid 25-19 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Everything changed from there.
Washington mustered just 31 points the rest of the way, as Iowa locked in on the Huskies’ potent downtown attack. Overall, sharpshooters Sayvia Sellers and Avery Howell needed 27 shots to combine for 33 points. Washington never mustered more than one trey in any quarter.
“Coming out strong and playing with that intensity, not just in the first half but the second half as well,” said point guard Chit-Chat Wright, who finished with 21 points and five treys. “That was a big emphasis on our bye week. Just coming out and sending a message.”
Kylie Feuerbach looked like her typical stopper self, while Stuelke’s relentless interior work kept Washington’s bigs from offsetting the outside struggles. Iowa’s collective defensive energy never wavered across the board.
Although it may not look as glamorous as when the Hawkeyes pile up the points, the Washington win is a more realistic blueprint for sustained success down the stretch. If Iowa can have a few offensive bright spots coupled with relentless defensive execution, Jensen’s group should continue trending upward as the season intensifies.
“We’ve really been challenging them with the intensity and transitional defense,” Jensen said. “We haven’t been talking and really vocal (during the three-game losing streak). People weren’t commanding. With transition defense, very rarely are you perfectly on the person you’re supposed to be guarding. But there’s a lot of pointing and a lot of vocal activity that needs to happen.
“But we’ve been pretty silent with that, so we’ve really harped on that. And then I really wanted to shore up our ball-screen defense. When we settled a bit (after the first quarter), it started to look more like that gritty, blue-collar mentality.”
In playing her most minutes since New Year’s Day, Taylor Stremlow live up to her versatile reputation.
Jensen hinted at a starting lineup change heading into this one, and she delivered one by re-inserting Taylor Stremlow for Addie Deal. Stremlow had previously started seven games this year while Wright and Feuerbach missed time with injuries.
The versatile sophomore guard played 32 minutes, her highest usage since playing 35 minutes against Nebraska on New Year’s Day. Stremlow answered the bell again with nine points on 4-for-6 shooting to go with two assists.
Meanwhile, Deal played just 14 minutes and finished with four points and a team-worst plus/minus of -9. The freshman moments are clearly going to be there alongside the spectacular ones.
“That decision was for the team,” Jensen said, “but also to free up the pressure on Addie.”
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Stremlow start the rest of the year, given how much Iowa needed stability after Taylor McCabe’s season-ending ACL tear. That doesn’t mean Deal won’t have her nights, but Iowa could use the more consistent option right now.
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: Iowa women’s basketball takeaways from win over Washington
Reporting by Dargan Southard, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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