No. 22 Iowa outscored No. 23 Minnesota 49-23 in a dominant second half effort to overcome the Gophers in a 81-63 road win.
The loss marks the fourth in a row for Minnesota as they have struggled to earn wins early in the Big Ten with losses to Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois and Michigan.
The Gophers put together a strong first half of solid defensive adjustments between man to zone. They held a 40-32 halftime lead and forced Iowa into 14 turnovers and limiting Iowa to nine points and the touches of Megan Gustafson, frustrating her in the second quarter.
Ultimately, the nations leading scorer had her way in the second half finishing with a game-high 34 points in front of a bus load of friends and family who showed up to the game from her home town of Port Wing, Wisconsin. Gustafson finished with her 15th double-double on the season with 13 rebounds as her 34 points marks the fifth time she’s scored over 30 so far this year.
Megan Gustafson is only the second woman in @B1Gwbball history to reach 7️⃣0️⃣ career double-doubles as she put up 3️⃣4️⃣ points and 1️⃣2️⃣ rebounds against Minnesota.#ncaaW pic.twitter.com/oERg8uCm9t
— NCAA WBB (@ncaawbb) January 15, 2019
The way Iowa responded in the second half speaks to their poise, composure and leadership. It’s hard enough to get road wins this time year, but that much more difficult when you dig yourselves a hole. It started with their All-American, Gustafson, who is one of the most poised and patient players in the country.
Despite getting rattled by the Gophers’ defense in the second quarter, Iowa was able to execute, take care of the basketball and work for high percentage shots in the second half. They responded, exactly how a veteran team should.
Iowa shot a season-high 67-percent in the second half. Four players finished in double figures for the Hawkeyes’ as Tania Davis added 21, Kathleen Doyle chipped in 11 and Hannah Stewart added 10 points. They did a great job of sharing the basketball finishing with 25 assists, seven coming from Doyle during the second half run. Davis did a tremendous job of making plays when Iowa needed it, she was the X-factor for the Hawkeyes in this win.
Minnesota was led by Kenisha Bell who finished with 22 points and Destiny Pitts added 16.
Iowa sits at 12-4 overall and 3-2, while Minnesota drops to 12-4, 1-4 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota will try and get back into the win column on Thursday when they head to Wisconsin, their lone Big Ten win of the season so far came over the Badgers on December 28th when they defeated them 74-56.
Iowa returns to action against at home, where they are currently undefeated this year, on Thursday when they host Michigan at 7:00pm.
