Skip to main content
Iowa
Join Now

Hawkeyes earn a "slodgy" win over Western Illinois

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann5 hours agoHuesmannKyle

Slodgy.

That’s what came to mind for Jan Jensen as she described the Hawkeyes 86-69 win over Western Illinois. Is it a mix between sloppy and sludge? Who’s to say really, but it’s not the first time she’s used it this season.

“It just isn’t fluid. It’s kind of tough sledding,” Jensen said as she tried to define it. “Where something might be really simple, but we kind of make it hard. I think that’s a little bit of our youth (showing) sometimes.”

Although they’re off to an undefeated 7-0 start, the coaching staff is still trying to figure this team out. Exact rotations are far from set and Jan says she’s still trying to learn what buttons to push and when. There have been moments of pure domination and plenty of “slodgy” moments through the first few weeks, but they continue to come out on the right end of it. More often than not, they’ve been winning comfortably and that included a 17-point win over the Leathernecks, despite having Chit-Chat Wright, Teagan Mallegni and Emely Rodriguez sidelined with various ailments.

“We should have played better, but I’m going to credit JD (Gravina). They had a good game plan, and they’re all guards, so Ava’s got to come out of her comfort zone, Layla’s got to come way out of her comfort zone,” said Jensen. “We blew some defensive assignments, but that type of team is not the easiest for our centers to guard, even Hannah at times…It’s a weird game.”

A Hawkeye victory was never in any sort of doubt, but they never really went on a run that delivered an emphatic knockout blow to the Leathernecks. Still, a 7-0 start is a 7-0 start and Jan Jensen says she hasn’t lost sight of that, but she’s also eyeing improvement as non-conference play continues.

“I don’t think we’re good enough yet to say that 7-0 isn’t good enough. I’m thrilled that we are 7-0, but I’ve got a lot of moving pieces.”

Making her second start of the season, Taylor Stremlow started the game, score, assist, assist, with the Hawkeyes jumping out to an early 10-3 advantage. Western Illinois answered with a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to 10-9, forcing Jan Jensen to take a timeout. Their lone significant run of the game came thereafter. A 13-0 run that spanned into the second quarter and was capped off by a three-pointer from Addie Deal to make it 23-9 Hawkeyes.

Needing a couple of players to step up to fill the scoring void of those out of the lineup, freshman Addie Deal finally got clicking on the offensive end, knocking down three triples, finishing with a team and season-high 17 points and five assists.

“I felt like last week, she was just able to step back and let herself develop a little more and improve and just go for it,” said Jensen. “You come in and you have all of everybody’s expectations…I think she dropped her shoulders (and relaxed) a little bit and kind of stayed with it…She had a nice tournament in Florida, but it was nice to have her when she’s hitting (shots). It wasn’t necessarily the defense she was facing; it was really the confidence in her mind that was missing. I’m really happy to see those shots go down for her.”

Across the board there were good stat lines. Ava Heiden tallied another double-double, finishing with 15 points and ten rebounds, while Taylor McCabe knocked down a season-high five three-pointers. The Hawkeyes shot 60.4% from the floor for the game, outrebounded WIU 41-25 and had four players score in double figures. It still just never felt like they were truly dominating the Leathernecks.

They took a 44-25 lead into the locker room at halftime, but Western Illinois hit three triples early in the second half and, at one point, cut the deficit to 51-38 on a Mia Nicastro made three. The Leathernecks didn’t get any closer. Taylor Stremlow restored the 19-point lead with a three-pointer to make it 62-43 and the advantage grew as large as 23 points in the fourth quarter, but some defensive errors and turnovers kept them from truly breaking it open. Iowa turned it over 21 times and lost the points off turnovers/second chance points battle 40-30. That was something that Jan Jensen was not entirely pleased with.

“I’m most disappointed in the turnovers. We handled a lot of full court pressure down in Florida, and then there was no full court pressure tonight,” said Jensen. “We were really just rushing and trying to do too much.”

As for the injured players, Chit-Chat Wright and Emely Rodriguez are considered to be day-to-day, while Teagan Mallegni is expected to be out for about a week.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will host the Fairfield Stags for a non-conference matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 12:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.

You may also like