IOWA CITY, Iowa:
The Hawkeye women faced off against #3 ranked UCLA at Carver Hawkeye Arena today for a “pink-out” home game. As usual the arena was sold-out, and the fans were doing their best to give home court fan advantage.
In the first quarter the Hawks struggled to get a rhythm against UCLA’s Betts’ height advantage down low. That being said, after a slow start, the Hawkeyes did manage to stay neck and neck throughout the quarter. With O’Grady, Stuelke, Olsen, and Guyton contributing to the Hawks 12 points in the quarter to UCLA’s 14. The Hawks appeared to be timid down low as well as what appeared to be a lack of confidence in shooting from mid-range.
A different story in the second as the Hawks offense came alive and outscored the Bruins 24-15. The points were spread around the team with O’Grady making a difference early in the quarter, followed by McCabe coming alive. The Hawks tied the game up at 20 points, then UCLA pulled ahead by 5, then Iowa absolutely lit-up going on a 13-2 run. Stremlow made a difference for Iowa grabbing an offensive rebound and dishing out to McCabe for 3. McCabe them had a fast break 2 on the next possession bringing this home crowd to a roar. Stremlow also grabbed a crowd-approved steal passing to Stuelke for 2. Olsen showed she could get into the paint and be a threat through the lane on multiple occasions including a layup at the buzzer. The Hawkeyes led the Bruins 36-29 at the half with leading scorers O’Grady (8), McCabe (8), and Olsen (7). The crowd on their feet at halftime, hoping for another upset.
In the third quarter, Iowa continued with an extremely fast and aggressive play style. While this worked well in the second, it’s effectiveness decreased a bit this quarter as the Hawks got into some foul trouble before the end of the quarter. Stuelke continued to battle for position in the paint. The Bruins were able to outshoot and outrebound the Hawks and close the gap ending the quarter tied at 50 due in part to some questionable foul calls.
In the final quarter, the officials called 5 fouls on UCLA in the first two minutes putting Iowa in the bonus with over 8 minutes left to play. In short order, they also called 4 against Iowa taking away that unplanned advantage. UCLA managed to take the lead with 6:15 left and hold onto it for most of the remainder of the quarter. Iowa’s Sydney Affolter was able to draw a foul with 54 seconds left to decrease Iowa’s deficit to just 2. An offensive foul by UCLA’s Rice and a missed free-throw by Betts put the score at 62-65 UCLA with 28 seconds left. Another UCLA foul on Olsen put Iowa at the line shooting three with 6.8 seconds left. Olsen hit all three to tie the game at 65. An inadvertent slip and subsequent trip call on Olsen put UCLA’s Aarnisalo at the line with 3.8 seconds left where she hit both putting UCLA up 67-65. Iowa inbounded to O’Grady who put up a missed three point attempt for a heartfelt Iowa loss. Final score UCLA 67 – Iowa 65.
