Why “all’s not lost” for Iowa after third-straight loss

Many would understandably expect the No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes to be in a foul mood after sustaining a 74-67 loss to the visiting Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday afternoon, their third-straight Big Ten loss in a span of two weeks.

It was a game in which the Hawkeyes played from behind, as they never led nor tied the game at any point. The Hawkeyes shot a meager 33 percent from the field, 31 percent from the 3-point line, turned the ball over 14 times and couldn’t sustain a run.

On the opposite side, the Hoosiers shot 49 percent from the field, 41 percent from beyond the arc and were a perfect 12-for-12 at the foul line. They had three players—Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish—score in double figures. Garzon scored a game-high 21 points, shot 7-for-8 from the field, grabbed five rebounds and exuded perfection at the 3-point line, going 5-for-5. Moore-McNeil finished with 18 points, while Parrish came away with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

The Hawkeyes managed to find a few moments where they would come back and cut into the Hoosiers’ double-digit lead, but they couldn’t contain the visitors at the 3-point line. As a result, the Hawkeyes now find themselves in a difficult bind.

However, in spite of all the evident struggles in a competitive conference, head coach Jan Jensen remains steadfast in her belief her team can overcome this challenge. After the game, she asserted:

It might be a little tough to believe, I think we did a lot of things better. I love their efforts at the end. We’re not giving up, all’s not lost in the locker room. I understand fans were all disappointed, but I think we are getting some progress….My eye is always on the next, and it’s on this particular season. It’s not where we were, it’s not where I want to be in a year from now, it’s where I want to be when we play Nebraska.

This is a different role for me, obviously, but young teams—I’ve been there. All of us together have been in this room for about four or five years, so I stay steady by remembering when you have a lot of young [players], it’s a roller coaster. I know what’s coming, I see the camraderie, and I see their fight….Illinois was a little bit of an exception, we had some flatness I was surprised about. So I’m encouraged with that, and I think we just need to find a way to make shots. We make some shots and it will be a whole different deal.

During the game, Jensen was more heated than usual, particularly after a technical foul was leveled against Sydney Affolter for swatting the ball out of the hands of an Indiana player after scoring a layup with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter. The official’s response drew the ire of Jensen and the crowd. It also caught the eye of Caitlin Clark, who took to X/Twitter to share her perspective.

There were some bright spots for the Hawkeyes, especially with their bench. Taylor McCabe had the best performance of her career. She finished with a team-high 15 points, including four 3-pointers. The biggest one came with 1:56 left in the game, when she hit the 3 after she came away with a steal to put the Hawkeyes down 66-62.

The other Taylor, Stremlow, provided excitement at both ends of the floor. She scored seven points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, dished out four assists and had five steals. Aaliyah Guyton had nine points playing against the alma mater of her father A.J. Ava Heiden scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had three blocks. In all, the Hawkeyes outscored the Hoosiers 24-10 in bench points.

Iowa also out rebounded Indiana 38-31, outscored them in points off turnovers 24-9 and dramatically improved at the free throw line, going 19-for-23, a far cry from their performance against Illinois last Thursday when they shot 8-for-17 at the stripe.

After the game, McCabe reflected on the team’s recent losses, sharing:

All of our losses were very different and we put together things from each of them. So now we just have to find a missing piece and then go to it at the end. We really have to be gritty and put some extra heart and soul into these games because they tend to be so competitive. We’re gonna have so many more close games and it could USC, it could be Northwestern, it could be anybody. We need to be ready to battle every single night. That’s what we’re gonna work toward and we’re gonna bounce back.

As for the starters, Addison O’Grady finished with 11 points and three rebounds. Lucy Olsen finished with eight points and four rebounds. Hannah Stuelke had five points and three rebounds. Affolter had four points and five rebounds.

No. 23 Iowa (14-5, 2-4) will play at home against Nebraska (13-4, 4-2) on Thursday Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.