When thinking of an Iowa basketball game, a high-flying offensive attack filled with three-pointers and a fast pace usually comes to mind. Whether on the men's side, led by Fran McCaffrey, or the women's side, made famous by Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder, the Hawkeyes typically put up points in bunches on the hardwood.
For all but one player on the floor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night, that reputation did not live up to its billing, including an offensively starved fourth quarter that saw 15 total points.
Rutgers Women's Basketball fell 55-43 in Iowa City as both teams struggled to consistently put points on the board, with the Scarlet Knights (10-15, 2-12) even going on a ten-minute scoring drought across the third and fourth quarters and finishing the game shooting 30.6% from the floor (15-for-49).
Iowa fell 20 points short of its season average but did just enough offensively, led by star guard Lucy Olsen.
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The Collegeville, Pennsylvania native and former Villanova Wildcat carried the Hawkeyes' offense, finishing with a game-high 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the floor and 4-for-5 from the three-point line. She did most of her damage in the opening 20 minutes, scoring eight of Iowa's 10 first-quarter points and 19 of the Hawkeyes' 28 first-half points. Sydney Affolter was the lone other Iowa player in double-figures, notching her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
At halftime, all other Hawkeyes aside from Olsen combined for nine points on 2-for-19 shooting from the floor and 0-for-10 from the three-point line.
In its second straight game without star freshman Kiyomi McMiller, Rutgers' offense struggled badly to create offense on the interior, finishing 2-for-9 on layup attempts and 8-for-32 from inside the three-point line with 18 turnovers.
In the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights were held scoreless until the 47-second mark remaining in the game, when Zachara Perkins hit a three-pointer. Rutgers did have a solid game from the perimeter, finishing 7-for-17 from beyond the arc, but it was not enough to overcome the struggles inside.
JoJo Lacey had another solid offensive game with a team-high 11 points on a trio of three-pointers and a late offensive rebound and putback.Destiny Adams was the team's second-leading scorer with nine points and four rebounds on 3-for-15 shooting from the floor with a made three-pointer of her own.
Rutgers had a strong opening five minutes to the game, bolting out of the gate with a 10-2 run sparked by its defense and perimeter shooting. Mya Petticord and Lacey each hit a three-pointer, as the Scarlet Knights forced three turnovers and a 1-for-7 start for the Hawkeyes on the other end.
Olsen then found her form after a timeout from Iowa Head Coach Jan Jensen, but Rutgers got some timely buckets as the first quarter went on and finished the opening 10 minutes with a 14-10 lead. For a Hawkeyes squad that had come in with five straight wins, it was a surprisingly flat start.
Iowa's defense stepped up in the second quarter, however, finishing the first half with a 28-22 lead after holding the Scarlet Knights to just eight points on 2-for-11 shooting in the quarter. Olsen had her best quarter in the second, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting as the Hawkeyes went on an 11-0 run and held Rutgers scoreless for nearly six minutes. The only two field goals made came over nine minutes apart.
The Scarlet Knights found some offensive momentum in the third quarter, scoring 15 points and converting at a more manageable 46.2% clip (6-for-13) including three three-pointers. The Hawkeyes did much of the same, keeping Rutgers at arm's length thanks to other contributions including two three-pointers from Affolter in the third, but the game was nowhere near out of reach with a nine-point Iowa lead after 30 minutes of play.
Any offensive rhythm found between the two teams in the third quarter came to a grinding halt in the fourth, as the Hawkeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 9-6 in the final frame, with eight of the 15 combined points coming in the final 48 seconds of the game.
In both the second and fourth quarters, Rutgers finished 2-for-11 from the floor with a streak of nine consecutive missed field goal attempts, with the fourth quarter drought kicking off from the start of the frame. For the first nine minutes, the only scoring came in a two-minute span from Iowa off a Kylie Feuerbach three-pointer and layups from Olsen and Hannah Stuelke.
Perkins' three-pointer and made free throw followed by Lacey's putback layup off a missed free throw were the only points Rutgers scored in the fourth quarter, all coming in a 41-second span to end the game.
The Scarlet Knights also battled some frontcourt foul trouble, as Lacey, Awa Sidibe, and Chyna Cornwell all finished with four fouls. Sidibe picked up three in the first half and was limited to 22 minutes. Cornwell committed three fouls in the third quarter alone, getting whistled for a technical foul after expressing frustrations with the officals following a foul battling for post positioning on defense. Rutgers used a primarily seven-player rotation, as Janae Walker played six minutes and Kennedy Brandt came in for one minute in the second quarter.
After an encouraging performance against a much weaker Purdue defense - the Hawkeyes rank 19th nationally in Bart Torvik's adjusted defensive efficiency while the Boilermakers rank 135th in the country - the Scarlet Knights were unable to put any consistent pressure on the rim and could not generate consistent easy offense, an issue compounded without McMiller, who leads the team in points per game and is a player whose best attribute is her shot creation.
Looking at the big picture, the loss does not put too much of a dent in Rutgers' Big Ten Tournament hopes with Iowa sitting near single-bye territory, along with Penn State losing to Illinois on Thursday as well.
Arguably the most important game in that regard is up next, as the Scarlet Knights host Northwestern who sits in 17th place at 1-11 in Big Ten play. A loss to the Wildcats would be extremely damaging as both teams would have two conference wins with Northwestern holding the head-to-head advantage. Rutgers also hosts Penn State for Senior Day on March 2nd.
The Scarlet Knights will need to turn around their offensive fortunes quickly, with winnable games remaining on the schedule and a tournament berth to fight for and time running out on the regular season with four games remaining.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME
Mya Petticord hits the catch-and-shoot three to give Rutgers a big lead early.
UP NEXT?
The Scarlet Knights return home on Monday to play in a key matchup for the Big Ten standings, welcoming Northwestern to Jersey Mike's Arena.
The game will tip off at 8:00pm EST and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, with radio broadcasts available on Fox Sports NJ and WRSU.
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