IU comeback attempt fails in Iowa

Some things never change. And for the Hoosiers, not being able to win in Iowa City, Iowa, has become a trend.

IU has not won at Iowa since February 1994, and Thursday was no different.
The Hoosiers lost 69-67.

In their first meeting last month, the Hoosiers (15-6, 8-4) handled the Hawkeyes easily, scoring 76 points and defeating Iowa by 22.

With this loss, IU now has lost two straight for the first time since November.
The first half saw both teams struggle from the floor resulting in a low-scoring half, which saw the Hawkeyes ahead, 27-22.

Iowa had a 34.5 percent field-goal percentage, and the Hoosiers only shot 25.7 percent from the field. Despite the poor shooting, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack urged her team at half that there was still plenty of game still to be played.

“I told them to keep playing – the game is two halves,” she said. “We didn’t bring a lot of energy and first half, and the second half we brought more energy. We just got beat by a great team tonight.”

One huge difference from this meeting and last meeting was the play of Hawkeyes senior forward Wendy Ausdemore.

In the first meeting between the two, Ausdemore was a non-factor, fouling out after 27 minutes of play and only scoring two points.

But Thursday night, Ausdemore was Iowa’s leading scorer with 20 points.

After IU opened the game ahead 2-0, the Hoosiers didn’t regain the lead again until 9:38 remained in game. But it was short-lived as the Hawkeyes regained the lead at 42-41, on a pair of Ausdemore free throws.

Iowa used an 11-1 run to break the game wide open at 58-44, its largest lead of the game. Just as the Hawkeyes seemed to have control of the game – up 13 with 3:06 remaining – IU fought back.

“We started to play hard, playing not to lose,” Legette-Jack said. “In the first half, I think we played not to lose. We started to make adjustments.”

Junior point guard Jamie Braun, who led IU with 21 points, scored 14 of her points in the second half. Braun hit two jumpers from beyond to arc to cut the lead to six and then to four with 1:32 remaining. After a steal by senior Kim Roberson led to two free throws from Braun, IU was down just two.

But the Hoosiers were never able to break through as the Hawkeyes held on, hitting their free throws late to hold off the visitors.

The Hoosiers have now lost three of four, after winning 13 of their previous 14.

“Even as a good as coach I am, I can’t tell you what we need to fix for Sunday’s game,” Legette-Jack said. “I can’t make an assessment yet. We are just going to watch film and find out. Right now our hearts are just filled with sadness.”