IU was down by 15 at halftime in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Hawkeyes had gone on two separate runs Sunday, 15-0 and 10-0, and outscored IU 24-8 in the second quarter.
From then on, IU played from behind, trying to extend its five-game win streak and maintain a third-place standing in the Big Ten.
But Iowa hung onto the lead, downing the Hoosiers 76-73.
“I’m disappointed, especially in that second quarter,” IU Coach Teri Moren said. “That’s the quarter we really dug ourselves a hole. Not that we haven’t been there before, but we needed to be better.”
Aside from the second quarter, IU outscored Iowa in every quarter, including in the second half when the Hoosiers were staging their comeback. The third quarter began with an 8-0 run by IU, the start of a second half in which IU outscored Iowa 45-33.
The Hoosiers had dwindled the lead down to four points at six different points in the second half and faced a three-point deficit with 15.4 seconds left.
IU needed a three.
Junior guard Karlee McBride and sophomore guard Tyra Buss both had opportunities to hit the game-tying 3-point shot at the end, but both shots fell short.
“I really thought our kids got us back into this ball game in the second half,” Moren said. “The only thing that you want at the end is to be able to catch and get it to overtime. We got a good look and it just didn’t go down.”
Fueling the comeback and recording her ninth double-double of the season, sophomore forward Amanda Cahill struggled in the first half but scored 18 second-half points. The forward ended with a game-high 22 total points and 14 rebounds.
Moren said Cahill has been a player who recognizes when she is not playing as well and adjusts as the game goes on. She said it was that ability that helped get the Hoosiers into position to tie the game.
“Cahill struggled in the first half, but I thought she showed up in a big way in the second half,” Moren said. “That’s kind of what Cahill has been able to do.”
Adding to the comeback was junior center Jenn Anderson, who scored eight of her 10 total points in the second half, including two putbacks and a block in the last three minutes of the game to keep IU close. The center ended with a double-double, as she recorded 10 rebounds on top of her 10 points.
Buss, who had been averaging 22 points during the five-game win streak, scored 18 and did not attempt a free throw. Junior guard Alexis Gassion ended the game with 15 points, pushing her to a fifth-consecutive game with double-digit scoring.
But it was the nine first-half turnovers, nine first-half fouls and the second quarter that prevented the Hoosiers from taking a six-game winning streak to Lincoln, Nebraska, in the team’s final away game of the regular season.
“We still have a lot of basketball ahead of us,” Moren said. “We’ve got to hold our heads up high because we did come back, and I’m proud of that. Now we have to go back and figure out how to get on the road and tackle Nebraska.”
