For all the turnover troubles that plagued Iowa women’s basketball throughout Saturday night, the Hawkeyes positioned themselves late to swipe a grueling Champions Classic win in Brooklyn. One strong push and a toss-up evening would finish as a chaotically productive moment in a long season.
Iowa never got it.
The Hawkeyes struggled with Tennessee’s relentless pressure all night, coughing up 30 turnovers firmly spread over four quarters. Another impressive Iowa defensive effort couldn’t cancel all that out. The Lady Vols controlled the closing frame en route to a 78-68 win inside Barclays Center.
The Hawkeyes (8-1) knew what was coming with Tennessee orange on the other side. The Lady Vols entered forcing 28 turnovers per game — third best in the country — while thriving on disruption and transition success the other way.
The Hawkeyes hardly handled it well. Aside from Taylor Stremlow and Taylor McCabe, every Iowa player who appeared racked up at least two turnovers. Several of them popped up during Tennessee’s game-sealing 14-1 run over the final four minutes, a stretch that simply saw Iowa run out of gas after a tiring evening.
Lucy Olsen, in her first game back after suffering a gashed knee at the Cancun Challenge, led Iowa with 23 points but was one of five Hawkeyes with at least four turnovers. Addi O’Grady added 17 points on another night when Iowa’s 3-point shooting was almost nonexistent (3-for-14).
Tennessee’s heralded outside shooting stayed cold as well, with a 0-for-11 downtown start morphing into a 7-for-29 final number. At times, Iowa’s defensive prowess looked strong enough to pull out a seesawing affair. But a team still molding cohesion with a fledgling roster showed its youth more than any other point this season.
Tennessee’s long list of contributors finally broke through Iowa’s resistance. Talaysia Cooper led the Lady Vols with 23 points and got double-digit assistance from Ruby Whitehorn (16 points), Samara Spencer (11 points) and Tess Darby (11 points). The Hawkeyes finished with zero field goals over the final 4:38 to punctuate the offensive difference.
After a riveting start that included multiple power conference wins, head coach Jan Jensen and her Hawkeyes knew Saturday was going to present a different level of difficulty. Iowa won’t get to wait around long to re-establish momentum, with Cy-Hawk at home Wednesday night.
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.
