INDIANAPOLIS — The second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes were feeling it. With the ball in transition late in the second quarter, Chit-Chat Wright dropped a between-the-legs pass to trailing teammate Taylor Stremlow.
The pass was imperfect, but on this Friday, imperfect seemed to quickly become A-OK. Stremlow gathered the ball with her right hand and in one motion fired a one-handed pass toward the 5-foot-4 Wright, who scooped home a pretty-looking layup and followed with a wide grin as the Hawkeyes assumed a 16-point lead on No. 10 seed Illinois.
“I just felt like it was the right time to do it. I knew Strem was behind me,” Wright said. “I looked back and saw she kind of fumbled it, so then I was like, ‘Wait, I’m open!’ And then she passed it.”
Iowa’s late-season momentum continued into Game 1 of the postseason, as it took control of the Illini early and held them down in a 64-58 win in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at a pro-Hawkeye Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 6.
The final score was tilted by a late 15-0 Illini run, as Iowa led this game by 21 points before clearing its bench with 3:53 to go.
The Hawkeyes won their seventh straight game and improved to 25-5 overall. They’ll face No. 3 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. CT on March 7.
The flair from Wright and Stremlow, who later added a rope-a-dope reverse layup, encapsulated the free-and-loose performance from the Hawkeyes, who arrived at their postseason in Indianapolis feeling little pressure and eyeing more opportunity.
“We’ve worked all year to put ourselves in a good spot at this point in the season,” said Stremlow, who has yet to lose as a Hawkeye starter (16-0). “Now we have to approach every game with confidence and a lightness, because at the end of the day it’s basketball. We worked for this.”
The Hawkeyes entered this weekend firmly on the No. 2 line for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, as the selection committee put them No. 6 overall. Beating Illinois marked Iowa’s eighth Quad 1 win of the season, which should only strengthen that case for a 2 seed.
With projected No. 5 overall seed Vanderbilt falling in its SEC Tournament quarterfinal, perhaps there’s a little upward mobility yet for the Hawkeyes this week in Indianapolis.
“Just trying to enjoy all the time we have left with the team, with our seniors,” Stremlow said, “and make the most of it.”
Hannah Stuelke’s status went from worrisome to plentiful
If there was a chance to play, the fourth-year Hawkeye wasn’t about to sit.
Stuelke made her 92nd career start in her 132nd game at Iowa, with her usual sleeve around her left leg and the new sleeve around her right arm after the gruesome-looking injury that occurred Feb. 26 vs. these Illini. But there was an added medical issue that cropped up Thursday morning. Stuelke was sick with a virus and didn’t take part in any team activities.
But she woke up feeling better Friday, got a proper tape job and was ready.
“My family and friends have been praying for me a lot. I think that’s helped me for sure,” Stuelke said. “I pray a lot myself. It’s really important to me that God’s with me all the time, and He’s been helping me out. He’s the best.”
Stuelke wasted no time showing she would be OK with her dominant arm, swishing a 15-footer for the game’s first points. Stuelke provided six points in 16 first-half minutes as Iowa took a 37-23 lead to the locker room. Those minutes were more about providing stability than anything, and the rest of the players could maintain the roles that had them riding a six-game winning streak into Indianapolis.
“When I’m not playing, (the arm) is more uncomfortable,” Stuelke said. “But when you go out there, everything kind of goes away. The adrenaline takes over. And ibuprofen.”
Stuelke finished with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists an one promise: That she would be good to go in Saturday’s semifinal.
“I’ll be good,” she said. “I’m a machine.”
Kylie Feuerbach: All-offense on this night
On Tuesday of this week, Feuerbach’s individual goal for the season was realized. She was named to the Big Ten’s all-defensive team by the media and coaches, becoming the first Hawkeye guard to get that honor since Kachine Alexander in 2011.
Feuerbach first found out with a phone call from coach Jan Jensen that morning.
“It was kind of a sigh of relief, but also I was accepting (if) I didn’t make it,” Feuerbach. But I’m very grateful I got it.”
Feuerbach was great on defense as usual, drawing a couple of hard moving-screen charges. (“Those hurt,” she added.) But it was her offense that stood out. Feuerbach curled in six first-quarter points and finished with 10 for the game, her career high at a Big Ten Tournament.
“Seeking whatever is open, that’s one of the main things I always try to do — if it’s offense or defense,” Feuerbach said.
Iowa’s starting five is just humming right now. On this night, Ava Heiden led the way with 16 points on 6-of-7 shoooting; Stuelke had 13, Wright 12, Feuerbach 10 and Stremlow nine. Wright and Stremlow combined for nine rebounds, 10 assists and two turnovers.
On the flip side, Iowa’s freshmen shot 1-for-12 off the bench, the only make being a 3 by Journey Houston (who had a career-high 12 rebounds). Iowa’s depth is still a nightly work in progress.
Iowa’s defense reverses past outing vs. Illini
The percentages had to come back to earth, right? Just eight days earlier, Illinois made its final nine 3-point attempts in Iowa City. NINE in a row. Yet, it still lost to the Hawkeyes in an 82-78 shootout.
This time, the Illini were shackled from the start. They scored only three times (for seven points) on their first 17 possessions. They were held to eight third-quarter points. For the game, Illinois shot a season-low 33.3% — and that included making 7-of-10 shots against Iowa’s reserves in the final minutes.
Tired legs after three games in three days for Illinois certainly was a factor.
What else changed?
Assistant coach Sean Sullivan, who had the Illinois scout, said post switches were much better than last time.
“I thought Ava, Hannah and Journey did a great job,” Sullivan said. “We kind of eliminated them attacking downhill.”
Iowa got nine “kills” — which are three consecutive stops on defense — to tie the total it had in a recent 62-44 win over then-No. 5 Michigan. That’s the second-most in the Jensen era, behind the 10 it had last year vs. BYU.
Illinois star freshman Ceerah Parchment had 20 points against Iowa last time out. She had two points on 1-for-7 shooting in 32 minutes on Friday. Illinois shot 5-of-22 from 3.
“Our goal was to make them make as many tough 2s as they possibly can,” Sullivan said. “In the first half, they made 10 shots total — two of them were 3-pointers. … We just keep encouraging them. This is our goal. We want to be a big defensive team.”
This is a young Illini team that Iowa will be seeing for years to come. Illinois started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior.
What to make of Illinois’ final 15-0 run?
Illinois coach Shauna Green opted to keep her five starters in the game as Iowa went with a lineup of three freshmen (Addie Deal, Layla Hays, Houston) and two deep-reserve sophomores (Teagan Mallegni, Callie Levin).
Margin of victory doesn’t matter in survive-and-advance. Although, obviously, Jensen did cut it a little close for comfort. She stuck with her five to the finish.
“I thought the first 35 minutes, I think this game was really great,” Jensen said. “Then the end of it, I just wanted to make sure my locker room held.
“That just happens if they leave their people in and you’re going with some (backups) to get some rest (to starters). I just told them, hopefully that experience is going to come in handy if we get to keep playing deep in April.”
Green said she liked her team’s “fight” at the finish. Illinois dipped to 21-11, two of those losses coming to the Hawkeyes.
“Just ran out of gas a little bit,” Green said. “But credit Iowa. They’re a really good team. Just didn’t have it tonight.”
The final push was a footnote. No big deal. Nothing to gripe about. Heiden, Iowa’s first-team all-Big Ten center, played only 17:50. She and Stuelke (28:05) should feel fresh on Saturday.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 31 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pressure-free Iowa stays hot, reaches Big Ten semifinals | Leistikow
Reporting by Chad Leistikow, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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