Despite a hard-fought effort on Friday night from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, 11th-seeded Iowa women’s basketball (22-10, 10-8 Big Ten) saw their hopes of winning a fourth-straight conference tournament crown dashed in a 60-59 loss vs. third-seeded and No. 12-ranked Ohio State (25-6, 13-5 Big Ten) in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Offensively, the Hawkeyes shot 23-for-59 from the floor, including 7-for-21 from beyond the arc and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. Defensively, Iowa forced 14 Buckeye turnovers and scored 12 points off those thefts. Iowa came away with five steals and four blocks.
While the game was tightly contested until the final buzzer, the Buckeyes prevailed off a missed Hannah Stuelke jumper with 0.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, which would have given the Hawkeyes a dramatic win.
As the Hawkeyes now await their NCAA Tournament destination, here are three thoughts gathered from Iowa’s performance against the Buckeyes.
Iowa women’s basketball is still a dangerous team
Even with the quarterfinal loss to the Buckeyes, Iowa still has the potential to be a very hot team as they enter the NCAA Tournament later this month.
Since Iowa’s five-game losing streak in late January, the Hawkeyes have won 10 of their last 13 games, including a marquee win over USC and a six-game winning streak.
While the trio of Lucy Olsen, Stuelke, and Sydney Affolter have been sensational throughout the season, the late-season emergence of freshman center Ava Heiden coming off the bench has created an additional threat to the Hawkeyes’ offense that could be a major factor for another deep run in March.
Turnovers prove costly again
While Iowa only finished with 16 turnovers and only eight Buckeye points surrendered off those mistakes, the Hawkeyes repeatedly coughed up the ball in critical situations that stalled Iowa’s momentum. Those extra possessions would have been a game-changer for the Hawkeyes on Friday night.
Ohio State’s aggressive defensive pressure factored into creating turnovers, but Iowa will need to handle that type of pressure in the next stage of its postseason.
While Iowa has cleaned up the amount of overall turnovers committed, they must limit the impact of their mistakes as much as possible if the Hawkeyes hope to go deep into the NCAA Tournament again this year.
Iowa must avoid prolonged scoring droughts moving forward
While every team has their scoring runs and droughts throughout the course of games, Iowa’s moments of offensive stagnation against Ohio State kept the Hawkeyes from capitalizing on their defensive stops.
It is far easier said than done, but Iowa must limit how often they endure and the length of such scoring droughts in the NCAA Tournament if the program hopes to defeat high-quality opponents.
With the loss, Iowa will have to wait until the 2025 NCAA Tournament field is announced on Selection Sunday to see where they will begin their quest to return to the national championship game for a third consecutive season. Iowa fans can view the reveal of the 2025 NCAA Tournament field on Sunday, March 16 on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Three thoughts after Iowa women’s basketball loss vs No. 12 Ohio State
