Iowa City, Iowa – Nebraska hit less than 33 percent of its shots from the field, as No. 20 Iowa pulled away in a 76-60 womens basketball win over the Huskers on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
While Nebraska struggled to make open shots, Iowa hit 45.2 percent of its attempts from the floor, including 47.4 percent (9-19) from three-point range. The Huskers hit just 8-of-30 threes on the day, and just 22-of-67 field goals.
Nebraska slipped to 15-8 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten, while the Hawkeyes improved to 19-4 and 10-2 in the conference.
Husker sophomore Leigha Brown led the Big Red with 20 points off the bench, including 14 in the first half. Senior Hannah Whitish added 14 points and five assists. Kate Cain finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals.
Monika Czinano led Iowa with 23 points and eight boards, while senior point guard Kathleen Doyle added 15 points and 15 assists. Fellow senior Amanda Ollinger contributed a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Alexis Sevillian added 11 points, including a trio of threes.
In a possession game throughout the first half, Iowa took a 35-32 lead to halftime on a three-pointer by Doyle with 49 seconds left to close the scoring. Both teams struggled to score early before Iowa scored five straight points, but Nebraska answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Brown and Isabelle Bourne to give the Huskers a 6-5 lead. Iowa regained a 13-9 lead, but Brown scored four points in the final 1:06 of the first quarter to send the teams to the second period tied at 13.
Makenzie Meyer opened the second quarter with a three for Iowa, before the Huskers put together an 8-0 run capped by a Cain layup to give the Huskers a 21-16 lead with 7:02 left in the half. Cain and Brown combined to scored Nebraskas final 13 points of the half, but the Hawkeyes still went to the half with the lead. Brown led Nebraska with 14 points off the bench in the first half, while Cain added eight points and four rebounds.
In the half, Nebraska hit just 34.3 percent (12-35) of its shots from the field, including 4-of-13 threes (.308), while going 4-of-7 (.571) at the line. The Huskers won the first-half turnover battle 9-3, while Iowa out-rebounded NU, 22-20. The Hawkeyes shot a solid 48.4 percent (15-31), including 41.7 percent (5-12) from three-point range, but went 0-for-2 at the line. Czinano led Iowa with 14 points, while Alexis Sevillian contributed eight points, and Doyle pitched in five points and eight assists.
Iowa gained control in the third quarter, going 8-for-16 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range while hitting all four of its free throws. Doyle led Iowa in the quarter with seven points, while Czinano added six and McKenna Warnock contributed five points. The Hawkeyes outscored the Huskers 22-13 in the period, as the Big Red went just 5-for-15 from the floor, including 2-for-10 from long range.
Nebraska went to the fourth quarter trailing 57-45 and could not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
The Huskers return to Big Ten home action this Sunday when they take on No. 18 Indiana. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Hoosiers is set for 2 p.m on Play4Kay day at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
