Slow Start Dooms No. 17 Iowa at No. 13 Maryland

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By DARREN MILLER
hawkeyesports.com

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Teams don’t often survive when digging a 16-point hole in the first quarter against the No. 13-ranked team in the nation.
 
The No. 17 University to Iowa women’s basketball team found out the hard way Thursday at No. 13 Maryland, falling behind 31-17 after the first quarter and losing 80-64 in front of 3,841 at the XFINITY Center.
 
The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes, who are 14-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference. Maryland’s 12th consecutive win lifts the Terrapins to 14-2, 3-0.
 
“We need to work on valuing the ball, getting the ball into our (posts), and being patient with the offense,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “I’m surprised (Maryland’s) half-court press bothered us as much as it did, I thought we could have handled that better. We handled their full-court press beautifully and had some great scores off it.”
 
Maryland led by as many as 16 in the first quarter (31-15), but the Hawkeyes battled back and made it a six-point game (31-25) when junior Megan Gustafson scored in the paint with 6:15 to go before halftime.
 
With 15 points and 15 rebounds, Gustafson registered her 15th double-double of the season and 42nd of her career. Sophomore Kathleen Doyle added a double-double of her own with 13 points and 11 assists. Her assist total is a career-high. At halftime, Doyle had nine assists, but no points. She warmed up offensively in the second half, making 5 of 10 field goals (3 of 4 from 3-point range).
 
Freshman guard Alexis Sevillian scored eight points with a career-high seven rebounds.
 
The Hawkeyes made 8 of 16 field goals in the second quarter and 7 of 15 in the fourth. Junior Hannah Stewart was 4 of 5 for the game and Gustafson was 5 of 8. Senior Chase Coley added nine points and six rebounds.
 
“Our posts aren’t getting enough touches and we need to find a way to get them the ball,” Bluder said. “It’s hard because we aren’t shooting the ball well from outside.”
 
Iowa was 7 of 24 from beyond the arc.
 
Kaila Charles paced Maryland with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals.
 
QUOTING COACH BLUDER
“If you take out that first quarter, we played a pretty good defensive game. It’s just that first quarter we allowed 31 points and a lot of them were off turnovers. We turned the ball over way too many times — 23 times — giving them 29 points off our turnovers. That’s the story of the game; that and second-chance points. They scored 18 second-chance points.”
 
STATISTIC OF THE GAME
Iowa committed a season-high 23 turnovers, resulting in 29 points by Maryland. The Hawkeyes had 21 turnovers in games against Morgan State, Florida State, and Wisconsin.
 
UP NEXT
Iowa plays at Illinois on Sunday with tip-off set for 1 p.m. (CT). It will be the Hawkeyes’ second consecutive road game during a stretch that sees them play four of five away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
 
“We will go back to the film and try to figure out how we can get better and go to Illinois and get a victory on Sunday,” Bluder said.
 
Iowa opened the 2017 Big Ten season at Illinois, losing 70-65.