In the second half they crumbled under the added defensive pressure Penn State put on. Even head coach Lisa Bluder thinks that the Lady Lions’ defense late in the game forced the Hawkeyes to make some “mental mistakes.” Bluder was “defensively disappointed” and felt her team gave Penn State too many “easy scoring opportunities.” Penn State shut down Iowa 81-69; leaving them 11-1 in conference play.

As the second half ensued, Iowa let their yo-yo 2-4 point lead increase finding themselves in double digit deficits numerous times. Penn State ended the game with four players in the double digits. However, most impressive was junior guard Maggie Lucas. With 21 points on the night, Lucas’s shooting was always on time and she had incredible precision.

This is the fifth game in a row that Iowa has lost, and the first time this season they have lost to a ranked team. Prior to this loss, they were a strong 6-0 against ranked teams. Reeling from the loss against Nebraska Monday (February 11) night, it would seem like Iowa wouldn’t have let this game go un-won. However, they experienced numerous pitfalls in this game that seem to be the same issues they face each game, ultimately leading to their demise.

Large portions of their points go down the drain at the free throw line. When it comes to free points, you’ve just got to take them. One player the Hawkeys can count on to make free throws just about every time though is senior guard Jaime Printy. Printy currently ranks fifth nationally for her free throw percentage. Due to high ball pressure and amazing defense on Penn State’s end, much of Printy’s shine was dimmed this game. Her usual three point shots just weren’t there tonight.

The Hawkeyes do not have a break in schedule coming up for them and really need to work on strengthening their defense amongst other areas if they want to be successful. They take on number 13 Purdue, as well as Nebraska again—both on the road. It will be especially interesting to see if they hold their own against Nebraska since they struggled earlier this week from their own arena. The imperativeness cannot be stressed enough, the need to win at least one of these games.

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With an outpouring of points like Hill’s, how could the Buckeyes lose?  Well, they did.  To a team of veterans and young guns alike.  At Carver-Hawkeye on a bitterly cold Thursday night, Iowa showed that it takes more than one great player to beat a solid cast executing in front of a small, yet raucous crowd in a 77-71 overtime win.

Hill can do many things for Ohio State (10-4 overall, 0-1 Big).  She displayed that Thursday night, hitting deep threes, layups, and getting to the charity stripe (she was 8-for-8 from the line).  But a team can only go as far as its supporting cast takes it.  Unfortunately for Ohio State, four of the Buckeyes’ starters combined for only 17 points.  Thirty-four points sounds great, but there’s no doubt Hill and her teammates would have taken a win in both teams’ Big Ten opener.

Iowa (12-3 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), meanwhile, wrote a different story for itself.  Four starters scored 14 points or more, led by oft-injured junior guard Theairra Taylor’s 19 points.  And it isn’t just remarkable that four starters scored in a such a way–it was how and when they scored that made Iowa’s overtime victory so satisfying.

Take senior center and All-America candidate Morgan Johnson.  She had another monstrous game for Iowa (16 points, 12 rebounds), but scored 4 of the team’s first eight points to give her teammates and fans an early boost of confidence.  Midway through the second half, Johnson’s six points in a two and a half minute span helped Iowa gain its biggest lead of the game–55-42 with a hair under ten minutes to play.  And with Tayler Hill single-handedly pushing the Buckeyes back into the game with a chance to win in the final ten minutes (Iowa trailed 63-61 with twenty seconds left after Hill scored five points in a late 7-0 Buckeye run), Johnson drew a foul and dropped two critical free-throws to force overtime.

In that overtime, Iowa’s collective assault overtook the Buckeyes.  Theairra Taylor–who has had multiple knee surgeries in her previous years at Iowa before unleashing a career-high 19–scored Iowa’s first six points off four free-throws and a layup.  Later, after Ohio State’s Darryce Moore hit a single free-throw to cut Iowa’s lead to three, 71-68, senior guard Jaime Printy (14 points) drove like a go-cart to the basket for a layup with 46 seconds left–possibly the most significant Hawkeye basket in overtime.  It gave Iowa a two-posession lead in the extra session’s waning moments.  Finally, sophomore guard Sam Logic (17 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) iced the win with four points off four free-throw attempts in the final 37 seconds.

With the win, Iowa started its Big Ten schedule the way any team would–with a gritty victory against a good opponent.  Iowa now has four wins over ranked teams in this short season.  Head coach Lisa Bluder doesn’t have a Tayler Hill, but she’s got a crew of women that can lift each other when need be.  And even though Bluder has regularly taken her teams to the NCAA tournament, this team–led by the 6’5” Johnson–may be her most special.

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The last time the men bested the three other Division I schools was the ’04-’05 season.  That Iowa men’s team started the year in impressive fashion that season, going 12-1 in out-of-conference play–including a win over Louisville.  Their only loss came at North Carolina, 106-92.  The team faded down the stretch, though, going 7-9 in league play before coming alive in the Big Ten Tournament in typical Steve Alford fashion to bolster its record enough to get into the NCAA Tournament.  That year, the women, too, swept Drake, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa–making it the last time the University of Iowa’s men’s and women’s basketball teams were the combined “state champions.” Until this season.

With the Iowa women’s team’s win at Drake Sunday, Iowa is a combined 5-0 against the state’s other Division I teams.  The Iowa men’s team did not play Drake this year because of the new layout of the Big 4 Classic in Des Moines, with Iowa and Iowa State playing Drake and UNI every other year.  Let’s recap the wins in this rare occurrence, in chronological order.

Dec. 1, 2012–Iowa 68, Northern Iowa 46

Hawkeye senior center Morgan Johnson had an unsurprisingly spectacular game, scoring 19 points and snatching 12 rebounds.  Samantha Logic added 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Only one Panther scored in double figures — Brooke Brown with 12 points.

Dec. 6, 2012–Iowa 50, #22 Iowa State 42

It was a low-scoring, tight contest down the stretch.  Tied at 39 with over three minutes to play, Melissa Dixon hit a 3-pointer to give the Hawks the lead.  She would later add a big layup with less than a minute and a half to go to give Iowa a 47-42, two-posession lead.  It was Iowa’s fifth win at Carver in six tries against Iowa State.  Dixon, Theairra Taylor, and Jaime Printy all scored in double digits.  Cyclone Nikki Moody led Iowa State with 12 points.

Dec. 7, 2012–Iowa 80, Iowa State 71

It was the Iowa men’s team’s first win over Iowa State since Todd Lickliter’s second season in 2008-09.  Aaron White led all scorers with 18 points (and some fantastic dunks). Frosh diamond-in-the-rough Anthony Clemmons set a career (albeit, short career) best with 14 points to go along with 8 assists.  The Cyclones battled back from a first-half deficit to take a small lead into halftime, but Iowa took control of the game in the second half, putting up 45 points en route to the win.  Freshman Mike Gesell added 11 points for Iowa.  Leading Iowa State scorer Will Clyburn had 0 points.

Dec. 15, 2012–Iowa 80, Northern Iowa 73

With contributors Anthony Clemmons and Adam Woodbury in foul trouble early in the game, junior guard Devyn Marble took it upon himself to shoot, and shoot some more.  Marble was one point shy of tying a career high with 30 points against the Panthers.  He set a Wells Fargo Arena record for a Division I college basketball player as Iowa took part in the Big 4 Classic in Des Moines. Marble drained 4-of-9 threes.  The Hawkeyes bombed 9 three-pointers in the first half, 12 for the game–by far the team’s best three-point shooting performance of the season against a team with a pulse.  Freshman Mike Gesell scored 23 points, a (young) career best.  Deon Mitchell led UNI with 23 points. Northern Iowa’s bench only chipped in 5 points.

Dec. 16, 2012–Iowa 82, Drake 65

It was a tad close in the first half–Iowa took a 39-34 lead into halftime–but the Hawks would use the second half to erase the Bulldogs’ game plan.  Morgan Johnson should be in mix for Big Ten Player of the Year if she continues her dominant senior year.  The 6’5” Missouri native had 26 points and 8 boards for the Hawks.  Sam Logic added 13 points and 7 assists.  Trish Nesbitt led the Iowa bench with 12 points.  Kyndal Clark led Drake with 19 points.  Drake’s record fell to 3-6 after the loss.

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