IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Indiana women’s basketball team survived a furious late rally from Iowa on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to pick up a rare win in Iowa City.
The Hoosiers (12-4; 4-1 Big Ten) never trailed in the 74-67 win over No. 23 Iowa for its third Top 25 victory of the season. They had previously beaten No. 24 Stanford and No. 18 Baylor in non-conference action.
This was only IU’s second win on the road against the Hawkeyes in the last 30 years. The Hoosiers only other victory in Iowa City since 1994 was an 85-72 win on Feb. 7, 2021. The teams had gone 2-2 against each other over the last two seasons with the home team winning each matchup.
Indiana led by as many as 15 points in both halves, but had a near seven-minute field goal drought in the fourth quarter that allowed the Hawkeyes to get within four points.
Tennessee transfer Karoline Striplin ended the drought with a tough basket in the paint with 1:28 over Ava Heiden. Iowa initially looked like it was going to foul IU over the final minute, but it changed up strategies after the Hoosiers knocked down four straight free throws. The Hawkeyes caused some headaches with their ball pressure until Striplin got loose for a layup in the final seconds.
Early in the game, Yarden Garzon knocked down her first 3-pointer of the night right in front of Iowa’s bench and turned around to stare down the Hawkeyes. Garzon was at the center of a tense exchange with Cailtin Clark last year when the team’s played in Bloomington.
Clark has moved on, but the bad blood between the rivals remains. Garzon was getting ready to inbound the ball in the second quarter when Sydney Affolter came up to her and slapped the ball away right in front of the ref. The official immediately blew his whistle and called Affolter for a technical foul.
Iowa coach Jan Jensen shouted down every official on the floor while the fans in attendance made it clear they didn’t like the call either.
When Sydney Parrish knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner late in the third quarter, she pumped her first in the direction of those same Iowa fans. The heated exchanges throughout the game made it clear that the Indiana-Iowa rivalry is here to stay.
Iowa looked primed for a comeback when Taylor McCabe came out of halftime and confidently hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a one-possession game for the first time since the opening minutes. The Hawkeyes followed that up by chasing Lilly Meister and Parrish off the floor with both IU starters picking up their third fouls on consecutive possessions.
Parrish had to go to the bench after knocking down her first 3-pointer of the game, but Moren didn’t make her sit for long. She checked back in with 5:17 left in the third quarter and scored nine points to help Indiana push its lead back to 15 points.
The fifth-year senior hit all three of her 3-point attempts in the quarter after opening the game 0 for 4. The Hoosiers went 5 of 7 from 3-point range as a team in the third with Garzon and Chloe Moore-McNeil knocking down clutch shots as well.
Garzon led all scorers with 21 points (5 of 5 from 3-point range) while Moore-McNeil (18 points) and Parrish (15 points) also scored in double-digits.
Indiana never trailed in the first half and went into halftime up 36-30. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening minutes — they hit five of their first six shots — and led by as many as 15 points in the half as they held Iowa to 35.5% shooting and forced nine turnovers.
The Hawkeyes had more turnovers than field goals until a 6-0 run to close out the second quarter.
Indiana held Iowa’s leading scorers Lucy Olson (17.0 points per game) and Hannah Stuelke (13.3 points per game) to just two points in the half on a combined 1 of 6 shooting. The Hawkeyes went 1 of 11 during one stretch while the Hoosiers put together a 14-2 run. Olson finished with eight points on 3 of 12 shooting and Stuelke only had five points.
Jensen called multiple timeouts in less than a two-minute span in hopes of blunting IU’s momentum.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
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