Iowa put on a performance Tuesday night worthy of the Hawkeyes’ No. 3 ranking in women’s college basketball.
No. 24 Northern Illinois’ performance simply was rank.
An early 8-0 run staked Iowa (13-1) to a 10-2 lead, and the Hawkeyes never let up en route to a 92-59 victory that ended the Huskies’ winning streak at eight games.
“We were not mentally prepared to play a team of this caliber,” NIU coach Jane Albright-Dieterle said. “I don’t know if they didn’t think they could beat them or what.”
Northern (10-3), which entered the game averaging 85.9 points a game, third best in the nation, was completely overmatched by the nation’s top defensive team. Iowa, which allows only 50.5 points a game, limited the Huskies’ front line to 14 points and held a 50-28 rebounding edge. Guard Debbie Teske, who scored 26 points in NIU’s victory Sunday at Youngstown State, was held to three.
“Toni Foster did a tremendous job inside,” Albright-Dieterle said of the Iowa center from Chicago’s Marshall High School, who scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “And we didn’t handle their full-court press well.
“They’re definitely better than we are.”
The Hawkeyes built a 49-29 halftime lead before Northern made a mini-run. The Huskies cut it to 51-38 on Cindy Conner’s baseline jumper, a driving one-hander and three-pointer from E.C. Hill and Dianna Wingis’ turnaround jumper with 17 minutes 13 seconds remaining.
But Iowa gradually regained complete control behind Foster, Tia Jackson (18 points), Cathy Marx (15 points) and Necole Tunsil (14 points).
Conner led NIU with 25 points, and Hill added 17.
“We were never in sync,” said Albright-Dieterle.
Never a doubt.
