No. 15 Iowa entered Wednesday night’s home game against No.25 Washington looking to get things back on track. After winning eight games in a row, the Hawkeyes endured a skid, losing three-straight games to USC, No. 2 UCLA and Minnesota.
However, they turned things around with a 65-56 win over the visiting Huskies.
Defense ruled the night and both sides resorted to playing a halfcourt game. All together, they combined for 12 fastbreak points, with Iowa garnering only four.
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Washington also outplayed Iowa in certain categories, winning the rebounding (35 to 26), points in the paint (38 to 28) and free throw shooting (100 percent to 64 percent) battles. On the flip side, the Hawkeyes came through on 3-pointers (50 percent to 19 percent), while earning a slight edge in assists (12 to 10) and points off turnovers (12 to 9). Washington turned the ball over 19 times compared to Iowa’s nine, and both teams matched each other by shooting 46 percent from the field.
While the Hawkeyes were partially stopped in their tracks, they had Hannah Stuelke and Chit-Chat Wright.
Stuelke finished with her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 16 rebounds. It was a continuation of a consistent level of play that has defined her in the last month and a half, which included being named Naismith National Player of the Week and being named to the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Top 10 list.
As Stuelke pointed out after the game, she relied on bringing that desire, particularly on the glass. “I think just bringing my energy level up, just getting after it and going to get rebounds,” Stuelke said.
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Postgame, Head coach Jan Jensen attributed Stuelke’s consistency to her ability to push through any sort of difficulties by just going out and playing with sheer confidence and grit. The coach said:
Hannah’s always been her will. I think that’s the thing where she’s been trying to challenge her with a little more consistency, because we all have to be a little bit more consistent now offensively as we reformed. But seeing her on the boards tonight, that was a bright spot.
Man, she really was stellar tonight.
Meanwhile, Wright led the way with a game-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers.
Additionally, Taylor Stremlow stepped into the starting role at the 2-guard position in replacement of Taylor McCabe, who is out for the season due to the ACL tear she suffered in the Ohio State game on Jan. 25. Stremlow finished with nine points and shot 4-for-6 from the field. Ava Heiden came away with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
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And just when Washington was mounting a late run, Kylie Feuerbach hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to seal the deal.
