Despite leading in the third quarter and keeping it close all game, Northwestern women’s basketball (6-9, 0-3 B1G) couldn’t pull off the upset against No. 14 Iowa (13-2, 4-0 B1G), falling 67-58. Iowa faithful showed up big in Evanston, filling the lower bowl of Welsh-Ryan Arena and making its presence known to give NU its largest home crowd of the season.
The two teams were no more than six points apart for three quarters. However, Iowa’s 15-6 run at the start of the fourth quarter proved to be the difference, giving the Hawkeyes the momentum they needed to close.
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Both squads were turnover-heavy, with the Wildcats committing 20 and the Hawkeyes committing 17. Iowa also went without its leading scorer, Ava Heiden, for the majority of the game as she played just 18 minutes.
Once more, Sullivan led scoring for the Wildcats, putting up 28 points on 11-for-22 shooting in a valiant effort that wasn’t enough. Casey Harter was the only other Wildcat in double figures, finishing with 11 points off three made triples. The fouls came in bunches for the ‘Cats with five players finishing the game with four fouls.
For the Hawkeyes, Heiden led with 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting despite playing with four fouls and sitting out the entire second quarter.
Iowa’s Ava Heiden quickly made her mark on the game. The center scored the game’s first 6 points, with two of them coming from Northwestern turnovers.
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Luckily, Sullivan was able to stop the bleeding, drawing a foul on Heiden and sinking both of her free throws. After Heiden checked out for a breather, Sullivan continued to work, getting a reliable jumper from the elbow to bring the ‘Cats back within two.
Tayla Thomas settled NU down on the defensive end, pressuring every shot at the rim and rejecting two early blocks. After Sullivan hit another jumper, the teams would trade misses and turnovers heading into the game’s first timeout, halfway through the first, with the game tied at 6 apiece.
Coming back into the game, Thomas put up a second-chance look off an Iowa turnover to briefly take the lead before the returning Heiden would rattle off her fourth made layup on as many attempts.
Heiden continued to show off her post game, first with a crafty bankshot on Thomas and then a hookshot on Sullivan. Heiden scored all of Iowa’s points in the first quarter, exiting with 12 after picking up her second foul.
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Northwestern struggled in the final moments of the first quarter, making 1 of their last 9 field goals to close. But it was still able to keep it close with their defense, forcing six Iowa turnovers.
Caroline Lau quickly put an end to that drought, opening the second quarter with a corner three, the first of the game for both teams and bringing the ‘Cats within one. Iowa would inflate the lead slightly with two made free throws from Hannah Stuelke, but Sullivan brought Northwestern back within one.
The Hawkeyes finally got their first player not named Heiden to sink a field goal off a driving layup from Taylor Stremlow, but NU’s Casey Harter would force a timeout from IU after making the game’s second three-pointer, tying the game up at 17 apiece.
Out of the timeout, Northwestern would turn two Iowa turnovers into fastbreak layups for both Sullivan and Lau, bringing the Wildcats’ lead to 4 with just over five minutes left in the half.
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Iowa had a chance to tie the game up after Taylor McCabe was fouled on a made three, but missed the free throw. Sullivan would make the Hawkeyes pay on the other end, getting a turnaround jump shot to put NU up 23-20.
After Iowa tied it back up at 23, DaiJa Turner and Sullivan would take the lead right back with a cutting layup off a Walton assist for Turner and another jumper at the free throw line for Sullivan, bringing the ‘Cats’ lead to 27-23.
Iowa got the last laugh, converting two free throws from Chit-Chat Wright and a layup from Stuelke would give the Hawkeyes a 32-29 lead heading into halftime.
Both teams struggled for the large part in the first half, with Iowa committing 12 turnovers and Northwestern nearly matching it with 10. Despite not playing in the second quarter, Heiden led the Hawkeyes with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting and was a game-high +10 in her six minutes. Sullivan continued to dominate offensively for NU, scoring 15 on 6-for-9 shooting and —along with Harter—played all 20 minutes for the Wildcats.
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After both teams started off slow, things quickly picked up pace after Lau threw a cross-court pass to a cutting Harter for the first points of the half. Iowa took almost no time to answer, with Wright making a three-pointer to give the Hawkeyes a four-point lead.
Iowa took a big hit with not even three minutes elapsed in the third, as Heiden picked up her third foul of the game and kept her out of the game for the next couple of minutes.
Just as Sullivan tied the game up with a second-chance bucket, Northwestern would have one of its own top players join Heiden in foul trouble, as Thomas picked up her third foul with six minutes still remaining in the quarter.
Lau showed off her impact, tracking down an offensive rebound that led to a three-pointer from Harter that gave the lead back to the ‘Cats. After the Hawkeyes took back the lead, Lau would find Sullivan in the paint and take the lead back at 42-41.
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Iowa claimed the lead back, with Stremlow making 1-of-2 free throws and Journey Houston making a tip-in layup, bringing the lead to 44-42 in the Hawkeyes’ favor. Just before the timeout, Thomas steadied the ship by grabbing a defensive board, drawing a foul and making both free throws to bring it back to even.
The final two minutes of the third did not go the ‘Cats’ way. Heiden took over in the final moments, scoring six straight, including drawing Sullivan’s third foul and making a last-second jumper off another Northwestern turnover.
Another slow start to the quarter quickly heated up, with Northwestern making the first points off a second-chance opportunity from Sullivan. Iowa responded in succession, with Wright making a pull-up jumper and McCabe sinking a three-pointer, giving the Hawkeyes their largest lead of the game with 7:49 remaining at 55-46.
Grace Sullivan was able to stop the bleeding, sinking a pair of free throws and a jumper at the free throw line. The foul trouble started to take over for the Wildcats, as Walton then committed the team’s fifth foul of the quarter, putting the Hawkeyes in the bonus with 5 minutes remaining.
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With under two minutes remaining, the Hawkeye defense was smothering the Wildcats, barely allowing them to get within the three-point line. Despite that, the ‘Cats were able to convert two straight three-pointers from Harter and Lau, which cut the lead down to four as the game entered its final minute.
The Wildcats entered the foul game with Iowa but were unable to convert on the opportunities they received, leading to a final score of 67 – 58 in the Hawkeyes’ favor.
Next up, Northwestern will head up north to Minneapolis, where it will take on Minnesota on Jan. 8 at 7:00 p.m. CST.
