Resilient Hawkeyes Fight Off Maryland

Iowa wins 29th consecutive home game on a bruising night.

The game book was on the table in front of Lisa Bluder, and she just shook her head when she considered the numbers.

Iowa’s 66-61 victory over Maryland on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena had plenty of quirky numbers that went against the winning team.

“Good thing it wasn’t gymnastics,” Bluder, the Hawkeyes’ coach said. “It wasn’t style points, for sure.

“But a win’s a win.”

The Hawkeyes (12-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) survived 38 offensive rebounds by Maryland — “I’ve never seen anyone give up 38 rebounds offensively and get a win,” Bluder said — and their own 23 turnovers. They also overcame a 10-point third quarter when eight of those points came in the final 3 minutes, 32 seconds.

And then there was the foul trouble to center Monika Czinano, a 15.6 points-per-game scorer who had just four points in 15 minutes before fouling out.

“What I’m so proud of,” Bluder said, “is the resiliency we had.”

The negative digits didn’t keep Iowa from its 29th consecutive home victory, now the second longest active streak among NCAA Division I teams.

“To be so resilient, I’m so proud of the way we trusted the process and stayed together,” said senior guard Kathleen Doyle, who limped through a bruising night to finish with 21 points. “We stayed together really well through the ups and the downs, and that’s what you have to do through the Big Ten season.

“Like Coach Bluder said, it definitely wasn’t for style points in this game. It was just kind of a battle-through-it kind of game. It’s just kind of the nature of the beast. Big Ten is physical basketball, but that’s what I signed up for.”

The Hawkeyes had a stretch late in the first half and early in the third quarter when they missed 12 consecutive shots. The Terrapins, ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and 16th in the coaches poll, went on a 12-2 run and led 42-41 when Bluder called a timeout.

The best advice might have come from senior Amanda Ollinger during that break.

“She told us to take a deep breath,” Doyle said. “We knew there was so much time left in the game, on our home court, and we were breaking that pass easily in the first half. We just needed to take care of the ball.”

Which the Hawkeyes did — they had just five turnovers the rest of the game.

The biggest shots came from guard Alexis Sevillian, whose 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the game broke a 54-all tie. Then Sevillian stepped inside the arc on Iowa’s next possession to boost the lead to 59-54.

“They were huge,” said senior Makenzie Meyer, who scored 20 points. “We’re really confident in every shot Lexy takes.”

“My coaches and my teammates did a good job of allowing me to be confident,” said Sevillian, a 33.8 percent shooter this season who finished this game with 15 points, nine above her season average. “I had no doubts going into this game.”

Iowa led by as much as 14 points in the first half.

“I thought Iowa was sensational tonight,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “They punched first.”

Maryland (11-4, 2-2) was 26-of-84 in shooting, 4-of-25 in 3-pointers.

Frese noted the Terrapins’ 59-35 overall edge in rebounds.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stat of 59 boards, 38 offensive,” Frese said.

All style points that didn’t matter.

“It’s a crazy box score,” Bluder said. “Believe me, we were trying our best. And we got enough to pull out a ‘W.’”