By SHANE STURTZ
hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the first time in 43 home games, the University of Iowa women’s basketball team lost inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes (8-3, 4-3) fell to 15th ranked and unbeaten Ohio State (7-0, 3-0), 84-82, in overtime on Wednesday.
Iowa’s last home loss was against Nebraska, 92-74, on Jan. 28, 2018. The three-year, 42-game home-winning streak was the second-longest in school history.
“It’s significant,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “It had been almost three years. I feel like we let a lot of people down. We let down the fans. We let down the people who played her the last three years. We will start a new one Monday night.”
Led by freshman Caitlin Clark’s 13 first-quarter points and four first-quarter 3-pointers, Iowa jumped out to a 26-17 lead. The Hawkeyes led by as many as 12 in the first half and 14 early in the second half, but Ohio State’s full-court press was the difference-maker.
Eighteen Iowa turnovers, including six in the fourth quarter, led to 26 Ohio State points.
“Turnovers were the biggest thing,” said Clark, who scored a game-high 27 points and registered her third career double-double with 10 rebounds. “We made some bad decisions on the press break. Some of the shots we usually make didn’t go down. All of that added up.”
A 9-0 third-quarter Buckeye run trimmed Iowa’s led to 49-46 with 4:57 left in the third. Still, Iowa led 59-54, heading into the fourth quarter.
With 1:29 left in the game, Ohio State took its first lead since the first quarter, 72-71, on a Gabby Hutcherson 3-pointer. Redshirt sophomore Kate Martin made 1 of 2 free throws after getting fouled on a loose ball to send the game to overtime.
Iowa jumped to a 78-74 lead in overtime after back-to-back layups by junior Monika Czinano. The following Iowa possession, Czinano was called for her fifth foul on an offensive foul, and Ohio State answered with a 6-0 run to take an 80-78 lead.
Down 84-82 with 19 seconds left, a Clark desperation 3-pointer misfired after the initial play broke down as time expired.
OF NOTE
- It was Iowa’s first overtime game of the season.
- Iowa was 15-of-24 from the free throw line.
- The Hawkeyes were 7-of-15 from downtown in the first half, but 0-for-7 in the second half.
- Ohio State outscored Iowa, 52-34, in points in the paint.
- Sophomore McKenna Warnock registered her second straight and sixth career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
- Czinano’s streak of 18 games in double digits was snapped. She finished with nine points and five rebounds.
UP NEXT
Iowa plays Purdue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on BTN.
