The Hawkeyes stepped over them all.

Despite tense action late after controlling the entire night, the Hawkeyes found enough stability to avoid what would’ve been a road catastrophe. Iowa’s 68-60 win over Minnesota positively follows up the USC upset, while also making Iowa’s hectic itinerary a non-issue. The Hawkeyes didn’t land in Minnesota until shortly after 12:30 p.m. on gameday after icy conditions prevented takeoff Wednesday night.

“That’s been the story of this year,” said senior Sydney Affolter, who delivered a massive double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. “A lot of games we’ve lost this year have been because of tough fourth quarters. We didn’t stay composed and were playing kind of scared and nervous to lose rather than trying to win. I thought today, we stayed really confident. We weren’t hesitant in the fourth quarter, which is super important

“… We kept saying, ‘Not today They’re not getting this win. No one is going to mess with us today.’ It was kind of a rocky start to get here, but we came to win a basketball game. I thought we controlled what we could control. I’m really proud of this group.”

Sydney Affolter wasn’t going to let another Iowa women’s basketball collapse happen vs. Minnesota

Sydney Affolter wasn’t going to let another Iowa women’s basketball collapse happen vs. Minnesota

The action usually falls Iowa’s way when in Minneapolis, with the Hawkeyes now having won their last 12 games in the city and their last 11 over Minnesota. A large chunk of that came via back-to-back Big Ten Tournament sweeps at Target Center, along with dominance at Williams Arena. But this night was always going to be much more difficult.

Minnesota found a way to make it that, pulling even with 4:33 remaining after Iowa was coasting all evening. But the Hawkeyes weren’t letting this tight affair slip away. Massive buckets arrived in the late stages, including treys from Affolter and Taylor McCabe in the final 90 seconds that pushed Iowa’s cushion to eight each time. Considering second-half double-digit leads evaporated against Nebraska and Oregon, surviving Thursday was Iowa’s only intent.

A balanced scoring effort saw Hannah Stuelke lead the way with 17 points, seven of those coming after checking back in with 6:25 left despite four fouls. Lucy Olsen added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Kylie Feuerbach added 13 points and another wave of strong defense.

“We’ve let a couple of those slip away so I think we’re just keeping on building,” Stuelke said. “The way that we finished was really nice for us.”

Hear from Hannah Stuelke after Iowa women’s basketball beats Minnesota

Hear from Hannah Stuelke after Iowa women’s basketball beats Minnesota

The need for instant energy is always strong when entering any opposing venue, even more so Thursday given what Iowa endured to get there. The Hawkeyes have struggled with sputtering starts at various points this season. Not Thursday.

Just as it did Sunday against USC, early 3-point shooting buoyed an emphatic open. Three Iowa treys splashed home in the first five minutes while Minnesota struggled hitting rim. By the time Olsen cashed in late for the Hawkeyes’ fourth first-quarter 3-pointer, Iowa was on its way to a tone-setting double-digit advantage.

Minnesota pecked away here and there, doing just enough to keep the home crowd engaged while never making a serious push until fourth-quarter urgency kicked in. With Stuelke and Feuerbach both on the bench with four fouls, Minnesota finally pierced through Iowa’s freshman-heavy lineup to get back within reach.

The Hawkeyes have flopped in similar spots. Holding on to Thursday’s win amid the circumstances marks progress in that regard.

“I’m so thankful we won because they had to handle a lot,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said. “But it’s not the end of the world. And I just thought it was a good lesson on handling adversity. It wasn’t an easy deal.”

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.