HuskerOnline Basketball

Nebraska crushed by No. 15 Iowa for fifth straight loss

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Eliza Maupin Nebraska Women’s Basketball (Photo by Nebraska Athletics)

No. 15 Iowa (20-5, 11-3) delivered Nebraska Women’s Basketball (16-10, 5-10) its fifth straight loss and fourth home defeat of the season. The Hawkeyes cruised to an 80-67 victory on Monday.

Britt Prince led the Huskers with 13 points. Eliza Maupin had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Amiah Hargrove contributed 10 points and four rebounds. Nebraska shot 47% from the field and just 21% from three. NU averaged 36.5% from deep before Monday.

Center Ava Heiden tied for a season-high 27 points, going 12-of-15 from the field. She paced Iowa with 11 rebounds and the only double-double of the game. Chit-Chat Wright added 14 points and led Iowa with seven of their 25 assists.

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Pinnacle Bank Arena’s Sea of Red was broken up with roughly 40% Iowa fans. The Hawkeye contingency was loud as ‘Let’s go, Hawks’ rang out loudly and often.

Iowa’s torrid first quarter builds 17-point lead

Iowa was on a torrid start. After Hargrove’s opening bucket, they scored the next 10 points in the first two minutes of the game. They were nearly unstoppable. The Hawkeyes shot 71% from the field and were 5-of-6 from behind the arc in the opening quarter. Iowa was up 25-13 heading into the second.

Iowa turned Nebraska’s five turnovers into 10 points. In the first half, the Huskers had 13 turnovers, which the Hawkeyes turned into 18 points. Seven Huskers had a turnover, and Prince led with four.

Nebraska was incapable of making a much-needed run, which Iowa had no problems with. They didn’t have back-to-back field goals in the first half. The Black and Gold had three runs of six or more points.

After a blistering start from deep, Iowa didn’t score a 3-pointer in the second quarter. Neither team made a three until Logan Nissley splashed on with under two minutes left in the first half. She finished with eight points.

Heiden carried the Hawkeyes in the second with 14 of their 20 points and four rebounds. Maupin paced Nebraska with seven points and three rebounds.

Iowa has 15 rebounds, four more than NU, and an impressive 15 assists, 11 more than the home team.

Huskers show fight, but not enough

The Huskers’ first back-to-back field goals were Prince and Nissley jumpers early in the third quarter. To no surprise, Heiden broke up the short run with a layup in the paint. She dominated in the paint the entire game.

Nebraska strung together an 8-0 run to cut Iowa’s lead to 51-39 with 4:44 left in the third. NU didn’t have a turnover in the first six minutes of the third. Iowa had three turnovers, which boosted Nebraska’s run.

The Hawkeyes responded with a 13-1 run, going up 65-42. NU never got within 10 points.

After scoring 22 points in the first half, Heiden only scored five points in the second half. She didn’t score in the third.

Both teams went cold in the fourth. Iowa only scored 11 points, and NU added 18 points. Petrie contributed six points in the final quarter. NU scored the final eight points of the fourth with a late boost.

Next, the Huskers travel to Eugene, Ore. to face the Ducks on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. CT on B1G+. They stay on the West Coast to play No. 25 Washington on Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.

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