Iowa women's basketball tops Illinois | Likes, dislikes from Big Ten tournament win

[ASFN Admin]

INDIANAPOLIS — No. 2 seed Iowa women's basketball rolled to a 64-58 win over No. 10 seed Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals inside Indianapolis' Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, March 6.

The Hawkeyes (25-5) advance to Saturday's semifinal, where they'll face either No. 11 seed Oregon or No. 3 seed Michigan at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Here's an early look at what stood out from the win.

Likes​

• Perimeter defense: After Illinois lit it up from downtown in the previous meeting between the two teams in Iowa City with an 11-for-19 performance, the Hawkeyes weren't going to let similar production unfold again. Iowa forced that many misses from deep in the first alone (2-for-10) and held Illinois to 4-for-20 overall on treys.
• Ava Heiden's continual dominance: A steady force as she's been all year, Heiden added another strong Indianapolis performance to her resume after her freshman breakout here last year. She finished with 16 points in 18 minutes for another efficient stat line.
• Taylor Stremlow: After not scoring in 33 Big Ten Tournament minutes last season, the sophomore guard came out humming against Illinois. Seven first-half points propelled Stremlow to a nine-point night, as her confidence and leadership continue to grow.
• Hannah Stuelke's grit: Despite entering the game with availability concerns after suffering an elbow injury against the Fighting Illini last week, the senior forward pushed through and gave Iowa a productive showing. She finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.
• Iowa's instant defensive energy: The Hawkeyes quickly made Illinois look like a team playing its third game in three days. A 14-4 first-quarter surge saw Iowa up double digits after the opening period, and that dominance didn't let up. The Hawkeyes held Illinois to 32.3% in the first half en route to a 37-23 intermission lead. Illinois never got within single digits in the second half.
• Kylie Feuerbach's aggressiveness: For only the third time this season, the sixth-year guard had multiple two-pointers in the game. She delivered those on two driving layups in the first half en route to a 10-point night to begin her final Big Ten Tournament.
• Offensive balance: By the time the third quarter's midway point hit, five different Hawkeyes had at least seven points. That ultimately led to four double-digit scorers. Spreading the love like that is when Iowa is at its best.
• Iowa fan turnout: While the Minneapolis showings with Caitlin Clark set an unreasonable bar to clear for Big Ten Tournament attendance, there was more black and gold in Gainbridge Fieldhouse than anything else. Included in the crowd were former Iowa standouts Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall
• Journey Houston's relentlessness: The freshman hardly looked like one in her first Big Ten Tournament. Along with draining only her fourth trey of the season, Houston corralled an impressive 12 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes.

Dislikes​

• A few too many early turnovers: If it weren't for eight first-half turnovers split among five different players, the Hawkeyes could've put this one away even sooner. Iowa finished with 16 turnovers overall.
• 3-point shooting: It didn't matter really in the end, but Iowa finished 2-for-11 from deep outside of Wright.
• Aaliyah Guyton's second revenge attempt: The former Iowa point guard put up 11 points in her first game against the Hawkeyes, but she couldn't come close to duplicating that effort. She finished with two points and no assists in 24 minutes.
• Pulling the starters just a tad too early: Jan Jensen pulled all but one starter with 3:53 left and Iowa up 21. The entire starting five sat for the final three minutes as Illinois ended the game on a 15-0 run. That made the final score closer than it was.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Likes, dislikes from Iowa women's basketball win over Illinois

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