Nebraska Beat Iowa in Overtime

By John Bohnenkamp 

BOX SCORE

The latest loss in a losing streak always looks the worst, hurts the most.

This one — Nebraska 87, Iowa 84, in overtime — needed no embellishment for the way the Hawkeyes let this one get away.

Thursday’s defeat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was the fourth consecutive for the Hawkeyes (12-6 overall, 2-5 Big Ten), the longest losing streak since the 2015-16 season.

For all the directions you could point for the cause of this one, the free-throw line was where this game got away.

The Hawkeyes were 16 of 29 in free throws, 5 of 12 in the fourth quarter when they let an 11-point lead with 6:05 left get away.

Iowa coach Jan Jensen pointed to the box score in front of her in the post-game press conference and knew the numbers that hurt the most.

“If you look at every category here … I mean, I'm happy with every category except free throws,” Jensen said.

Lucy Olsen, a career 76.3-percent free-throw shooter and an 82.5-percent shooter from the line this season, was 1 of 6 from the line in the final 5 ½ minutes of the fourth quarter. Sydney Affolter went 1 of 2. Kylie Feuerbach went 3 of 4.

“I mean, you're all writing a different story if every one of them hits one of those (missed) free throws,” Jensen said.

And even with all of that, the Hawkeyes had final shots to first win the game and then to tie it — Aaliyah Guyton missed a layup at the buzzer in the fourth quarter, and Affolter missed a 3-pointer at the end of overtime.

“All of our losses have been very winnable games, which is the frustrating part,” Affolter said.

The crisis of confidence is something Jensen wants to avoid.

“I don't care if you're the Golden State Warriors, you lose four in a row, it's going to be a little bit of a challenge,” Jensen said. “I've seen a lot of fight in them. But I think it wears on them.”

Jensen switched the starting lineup to move Hannah Stuelke back to the ‘5’, and it paid off — Stuelke had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the eighth double-double of her career.

That, Jensen said, allowed for more flow to the offense — Iowa had 24 assists on 30 field goals. Six Hawkeyes scored in double figures. Olsen and Guyton each had 14 points, Feuerbach had 13, Affolter had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Addison O’Grady came off the bench for 10 points.

But the Hawkeyes got stagnant in overtime, going just 1 of 6 from the field. Nebraska (14-4, 5-2, didn’t even have a field goal in overtime, winning the game by going 10 of 14 in free throws.

“That’s just the hangover from not wanting to go to overtime,” Jensen said. “(Nebraska) had the momentum. They’re the team that got the momentum, and we needed to punch first, and we weren’t able to do that.”

Britt Prince scored 22 points for Nebraska, coming up with big shots at the end of the fourth quarter. Her 3-pointer with 49 seconds left tied the game at 75, and her two free throws with two seconds left tied the game at 77.

Now the Hawkeyes go on the road to Oregon and Washington, carrying the baggage of a streak they can’t shake.

“They’re really a great group, and they're doing most things right,” Jensen said. “I keep telling them, we’ve got to create a break. I'm not one that just is going to depend on how I want to catch a break. We need to create them. And that's one thing we haven't done yet.”