Little has come easy of late when Iowa women’s basketball treks north to Breslin Center. The Hawkeyes’ last two wins there required overtime. Several other trips didn’t end that favorably. In that regard, Sunday’s visit to Michigan State fit right in.
Iowa couldn’t escape the chaos.
Even with a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter of a game No. 24 Iowa controlled most of the way, Jan Jensen’s Hawkeyes couldn’t put the Spartans away. No. 19 Michigan State roared back for a 68-66 win in both teams’ Big Ten opener.
Just four days after securing a huge rivalry win over No. 17 Iowa State with a late surge that erased several quarters of struggles, the Hawkeyes (9-2, 0-1 Big Ten Conference) pretty much delivered the inverse Sunday. Iowa was in control, able to hurdle turnover issues and foul trouble — until it wasn’t. The Spartans’ surge was as shocking as it was emphatic.
Nyla Hampton spearheaded the charge with all 13 of her points in the fourth quarter, igniting an 18-2 run that turned a 58-49 Hawkeyes lead into a concerning 67-60 hole. That momentum flip covered five minutes of game clock that saw Iowa go without a field goal while in offensive disarray. Overall, Iowa had just one field goal over the final 8 1/2 minutes.
Still, thanks to Michigan State (10-0, 1-0) missing three free throws and a lane violation in the final 30 seconds — part of the Spartans’ late three-minute scoring drought — the Hawkeyes had one final chance to revive this day. Down one with one last possession, Sydney Affolter’s driving layup was blocked out of bounds. A contested Lucy Olsen mid-range clanked off as Michigan State corralled the rebound to effectively end it.
Hannah Stuelke led Iowa with 18 points, 10 of them at the free throw line. Olsen had a rough shooting day with 13 points on 4-for-17. Kylie Feuerbach offset some of that with 12 points on four treys, two of them to start the fourth quarter. But from there, Taylor Stremlow had the only other field goal the rest of the way.
When examining what this week could be for Iowa with two ranked matchups, 1-1 felt like a passable outcome. However, this ending will undoubtedly sting for this group still finding its way.
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
