By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 13 Iowa women’s basketball team showed in spectacular fashion what it truly means to defend the home court.
Iowa defeated No. 6 Michigan 62-44 on Sunday before a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and did so with a relentless and well-connected defense that held the Wolverines 42 points below their 86.6 per-game average. It was also a season low in points for Michigan, the previous low being 52 points.
Sophomore center Ava Heiden led Iowa with 24 points, including 20 in the second half, while senior forward Hannah Stuelke finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and team-high seven assists. Heiden was also a force on the boards as she finished with 10 rebounds.
Iowa improved 22-5 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten, while Michigan fell to 22-5 and 13-3.
“I think as a team we pride ourselves on our blue-collar work ethic, both defensively and offensively, really using that to our advantage,” Heiden said. “Going up strong and playing together as a team.”
Following the game, Iowa honored its four seniors before a jubilant crowd that still was highly energized following the signature win.
Stuelke became emotional as she addressed the crowd afterwards. The Cedar Rapids also thanked Iowa head coach Jan Jensen for giving her a chance to be a Hawkeye.
Jensen also became emotional as she thanked her four seniors, which also includes, sixth-year guard Kylie Feuerbach, injured guard Taylor McCabe and injured forward Jada Gyamfi.
Jensen also thanked the fans for their support as Iowa has sold out every home game for three straight seasons.
Stuelke didn’t play in Iowa’s win at Purdue this past Thursday due to what was called an upper-body injury.
But she was certainly ready to battle against the Wolverines.
“I think just a high-emotion game, especially for me,” Stuelke said. “So I think that kind of translates into how hard we work as a team.”
Iowa is known more for its high-scoring offense, and it was also just 17 days ago when Minnesota shredded the Hawkeyes for 91 points in a win.
So what has changed?
“Like what I said before, our blue-collar work ethic, that’s something very emphasized in practice,” Heiden said. “So that’s just basically the biggest emphasis.
“I think our offense flows through our defense. So when we get stops and we get kills, that really pushes the momentum for our offensive game and it really gets us in a good rhythm.”
Iowa pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Wolverines 20-9, much to the delight of the sellout crowd.
Jensen felt that her team was tight in the opening minutes of the game, but then eventually started to loosen up in the second half after a few shots started falling.
“But I think again it was our defense,” Jensen said. “They really locked in on the scouts.”
Sunday’s game was very physical and even chippy at times as the usually soft-spoken Heiden and Michigan center Ashley Sofilkanich appeared to have few choice words for each other.
The officials brought them together on the court to remind them to play within the rules, according to Heiden.
“A little butting heads always happens with post (players) because we’re just really physical,” Heiden said. “It’s just playing basketball.”
The 6-foot-4 Heiden has combined for 62 points and 34 rebounds over the last three games, making a strong case for National Player of the Week.
Iowa built an 11-point lead (35-24) in the third quarter on a basket by Solon native Callie Levin. But then Michigan trimmed it to four (39-35) on a three by Syla Swords with 15 seconds left in the quarter.
Kylie Feuerbach, who is known more for her defensive prowess, then answered the Michigan three with her own three with two seconds left in the third quarter, giving Iowa a 42-35 lead heading to the fourth quarter. Feuerbach was laughing as she headed to the bench after having banked in her three.
But it didn’t matter if she intended to make a bank shot because it still counted as three points in a game in which points were hard to come by.
And then on defense, Feuerbach made a huge impact as usual.
“I thought Kylie Feuerbach again with her defense leading the way,” Jensen said.
The first half was a defensive grinder throughout as both teams combined for a whopping 29 turnovers, including 16 by Michigan.
Both teams also combined for 20 steals, including 11 by Michigan.
Despite its offensive struggles, Iowa still led 27-20 at halftime.
Hawkeye fans showed their appreciation by giving the Iowa players a standing ovation as they left the court with a seven-point lead over the sixth-ranked team in the country.
Iowa only shot 35.7 percent from the field in the first half, making 10-of-28 attempts, including 3-of-11 from 3-point range.
But Michigan was even worse from the field, making just 9-of-30 attempts for 30 percent.
The Wolverines struggled throughout the first half to get open looks against Iowa’s defensive pressure.
Stuelke led Iowa with seven points and eight rebounds in the first half, while Heiden only had four points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field.
The score was even at 12-12 after a sloppy first quarter as both teams combined for 19 turnovers in the quarter, including 11 by Michigan.
Both teams also shot 38.5 percent in the first quarter, in both cases, making 5-of-13 field-goal attempts.
Heiden was held to just two points in the first quarter on 1-of-4 shooting from the field.
Iowa will face Illinois on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the final home game of the regular season.
Jensen already was thinking about the Illinois game when she entered the locker room after Sunday’s win.
“I think what’s so interesting about a league like this; I was excited and then by the time I got to locker room, I was like, ‘man Illinois is good,’” Jensen said. “And they are.
“You win a big one, right, and it’s the biggest one. I personally now think the next biggest game of the year will be Thursday because I have so much respect for what they (Illinois) do and how they do it.”