Hoosiers lose to Iowa 84-75

Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder wanted to send a message during Iowa’s rematch against IU.

The Hoosiers upset then-No. 22 Iowa at Assembly Hall earlier this month. She thought her team had overlooked IU, a team that had struggled in recent history.

All week, Bluder emphasized not overlooking IU again in the rematch, and the added emphasis paid off.

Iowa defeated IU 84-75 Saturday night in Iowa City, Iowa, handing IU its fourth loss in five games.

“(I’m) disappointed ultimately with the loss tonight because we did a lot to ourselves,” IU Coach Curt Miller said.

The Hawkeyes (16-4, 4-3) began the game on a 13-3 run.

Nine of those early points came from 3-pointers, including a pair from junior guard Melissa Dixon.

Iowa found success on the offensive end through ball movement. The Hawkeyes exploited the Hoosiers’ 2-3 zone early on, allowing the Hawkeyes to make an extra pass to find an open shooter. Iowa ended the game with 16 assists on 29 made field goals.

IU (15-5, 2-5) cut Iowa’s lead to 36-34 after a layup from Karlee McBride, but the Hoosiers never found their footing to take the lead.

After a pair of potential 3-pointers failed to go in, senior Simone Deloach was fouled and went to the line to shoot a one-and-one with a chance to tie the game.

Deloach missed the front end, and Iowa grabbed the rebound.

Senior guard Taylor Theirra drew a foul on the other end and hit a pair of free-throws to extend Iowa’s lead to 38-34.

“I thought that was a big moment in the game,” Miller said.

The Hoosiers would not get within two points again the rest of the night.

IU’s offense was plagued by turnovers throughout the 40 minutes. The Hoosiers entered the game averaging 12.2 turnovers per game, a Big Ten best, but committed 22 Saturday.

Those 22 turnovers led to 29 points for Iowa.

“Turnovers were a big difference in the game,” Miller said. “It’s just so hard to defend turnovers. They are a good transition team, so when you turn the ball over, it’s really difficult to guard that.”

The turnover problem was most evident during the opening minutes of the second half.
IU trailed by only five points at halftime, but committed three consecutive turnovers within the opening two minutes of the second half.

The stall in IU’s offense allowed Iowa to go on a 16-7 run to pull ahead 60-46.
Iowa was able to hold the lead for the rest of the game.

Miller called a timeout after freshman guard Nicole Bell hit a 3-pointer, cutting Iowa’s lead to 10 points with 1 minutes 57 seconds remaining.

Iowa’s Melissa Dixon nailed a 3-pointer after the timeout to put the game away.
Freshmen guard Taylor Agler had a standout night for IU, despite the loss.

Agler shot six-of-eight from beyond the 3-point line en route to scoring a career-high 21 points.

“She hunted for shots tonight and was really aggressive tonight offensively, and we really needed that,” Miller said.

Saturday’s game against Iowa was the last of a stretch of five games in 11 days, four of which were losses on the road.

Miller said he will give his team a few days off and then welcome back a more routine schedule.

“We survived. We got through that stretch,” Miller said. “We’ll get back to work with this young group and attack it, and try not to be
discouraged.”

Follow reporter
Sam Beishuizen on Twitter
@Sam_Beishuizen.