Box Score: Nebraska 77, Iowa 72
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IOWA CITY — Iowa had all the momentum and ingredients to upset the No. 19 Nebraska women’s basketball team.
A 46-38 second-half lead. A season-high, raucous home crowd. A dominant post performance from center Morgan Johnson. And a good scheme to slow down NU’s No.1 scoring option, Jordan Hooper.
But the Huskers’ Plan B for points — guard Lindsey Moore — got an A-plus for poise Sunday afternoon.
When Nebraska coach Connie Yori shelved her motion offense to run set plays through Moore, that deficit evaporated — and turned into a dramatic 77-72 NU victory in front of 7,269 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Moore scored 16 second-half points and 22 overall. The 5-foot-9 junior added seven rebounds and nine assists, several of which set up open 3-pointers during a 32-14 second-half run.
“I just wanted us to get good possessions,” Moore said. “Whatever that was. Whether that was me shooting or me making a play for someone else.”
Said Yori: “We tried to put the ball in her hands the last eight or nine minutes of the game. She was able to create for herself and create for others. She made a lot of big plays.”
So did Hooper — when it mattered. She hit a 22-foot 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark and a five-foot, turnaround jumper with 13 seconds left to ice the win. Both were highly contested.
“Hooper and Moore were too much for us,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I thought they hit some big-time shots when they had to when the game was on the line. Two players stepped up ... Hooper made some really tough shots.”
Hooper scored 17 — four below her season average — thanks to aggressive defense from forward Kelly Krei, who often trapped Hooper in the paint and dared Nebraska (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) to lob it in. NU did, and was burned with turnovers.
“They took me out of what I like to do,” Hooper said.
The Hawkeyes (10-7, 2-2) were similarly frustrated on offense. Their offense is built around 3-pointers and they made 2 of 16 attempts. They were cold in a 69-62 overtime win over Illinois, too.
The 6-foot-5 Johnson — whose younger sister, Taylor, is a freshman forward for Creighton — compensated with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while junior guard Jaime Printy scored 27 thanks to hitting nine free throws. Morgan Johnson outmuscled and shot over NU forwards Hooper and Emily Cady, while Printy’s speed was often too much for Nebraska’s defenders.
The two combined for 23 first-half points to help give UI a 33-31 halftime lead and scored 11 of the team’s first 13 points after the break. Two Printy free throws gave Iowa the 46-38 advantage with 14:14 left.
But the Hawkeyes probably should have led by more, beating NU on the boards but missing several open 3-pointers. When Nebraska outrebounded Iowa by eight in the second half, unlikely Huskers hit those same open shots beyond the arc: Freshmen Cady and Brandi Jeffrey and junior Meghin Williams.
“They hit their 3s, we didn’t,” Bluder said. “That makes it tough.”
NU tied Iowa 56-56 with 8:14 left and took a 61-60 lead when Moore drained a 3-pointer with 5:57 left. One minute later, Moore zipped into the lane, drew a triple team and flipped a pass to Cady, who hit a baseline 3-pointer.
Nebraska never trailed again, though Hooper’s long 3-pointer was appropriate punctuation. With the Huskers leading 70-66, Moore handed the ball to Hooper, who paused briefly, then drained a shot that drew a low, surprised gasp from Iowa fans.
A few of them trickled into UI’s postgame press room; Bluder thanked them for coming before apologizing for not getting the win.
The rematch later this month in Lincoln should be interesting.
“That’s a fun game to be a part of,” Yori said, before deadpanning, “Obviously, the fact that we won makes it a little bit more fun.”
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