Iowa women's basketball: No. 23 Hawkeyes fade late at Illinois

Iowa women’s basketball: No. 23 Hawkeyes fade late at Illinois

Posted by author January 10, 2025 Basketball

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Riding the wave of this Iowa women’s basketball campaign was always going to have unsettling moments, full of seesawing action that would test the mettle of all involved.

Thursday night got particularly turbulent.

After wasting first-half opportunities to dictate the action late, the No. 23 Hawkeyes were locked into a vintage Big Ten battle with a desperate Illinois squad on the other side. Not enough firepower down the stretch saw the Hawkeyes stumble again, 62-57, inside State Farm Center.

Road triumphs are tough in any form, particularly as that late, tense energy ignites in unfamiliar territory. The Hawkeyes were forced to plunge into this batch head-on. Iowa never led in the second half but never trailed by more than seven, a frustrating range to operate from that lacks consistency.

“Our lack of discipline on our passing, again, it’s the turnovers,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said. “Eighteen is not as bad, but they were crucial, We had stretches where I’m pretty sure where we had two or three (turnovers) in a row, something good for a while, two or three in a row, something good. They come kind of in stretches. That the thing where I’ve been trying to be really disciplined in practice.

“You can’t get something going when you kind of feel good one time down the floor, and then the next two or three possessions, it’s just a lack of discipline.”

Still, Iowa had a closing shot to save this night. After forcing a defensive stop down three, the Hawkeyes took possession with 36.5 seconds remaining. Sydney Affolter ultimately ended up at the line after a missed Lucy Olsen trey, only for uncharacteristic free-throw struggles to continue. Affolter missed both to punctuate an 8-for-17 showing at the line that included a horrendous 3-for-10 effort in the fourth quarter.

“If we make our free throws, we win the game,” forward Hannah Stuelke said. “Some of those shots, they go in. Sometimes they don’t. That’s unfortunate, but we’ll keep getting in the gym and keep practicing.”

Hear from Hannah Stuelke after Iowa women’s basketball falls at Illinois

There were chances early to build a more comfortable cushion. Solid surges to start the first two quarters were immediately met with offensive road blocks, as the Hawkeyes slogged through a pair of four-minute scoring droughts that prevented double-digit leads from forming.

A 29-20 advantage with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter slowly evaporated into a measly 29-27 intermission lead, Iowa failing to find room to breathe with Illinois teetering. That drought spilled over into a third quarter Illinois controlled.

Stuelke led the Hawkeyes with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while getting double-digit assistance from Olsen (16 points). Aaaliyah Guyton made her first career start in place of Addi O’Grady as Iowa opted to go small, but the freshman guard mustered just two points in 16 minutes.

With a massive logjam in the middle of the Big Ten, these are the toss-up games Iowa can’t afford to drop. The disappointment felt Sunday is different than this version.

“There are a lot of things we have to work on,” Olsen said. “We’ve got to use this as motivation and fix some things up to get the next one. We can’t lose any more.”

Hear from Lucy Olsen after Iowa women’s basketball falls at Illinois

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.