Iowa seniors go out in style with 71-60 victory over Wisconsin
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa senior Alexa Kastanek rescued Senior Day with back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and the Hawkeyes went on to a 71-60 victory over Wisconsin Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“It was pretty awesome to watch them make those big shots,” sophomore Megan Gustafson said of seniors Kastanek and Ally Disterhoft. “Throughout their four years here they’ve really been leaders, and tonight I thought that really showed.”
Eighth-seeded Iowa (17-12, 8-8) will play ninth-seeded Northwestern (19-10, 8-8) Thursday at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. Iowa won the only game between the two teams, 78-59, in Iowa City. The winner will play conference co-champion Ohio State, the top tournament seed.
Kastanek, a senior from Lincoln, Neb., struggled with her ball-handling during the game, committing five turnovers. But thrust into a bigger role with the injury to Tania Davis, Kastanek made her shots count Sunday.
The teams traded spurts, but Iowa led 38-31 at halftime. Wisconsin controlled the third quarter, taking a 52-51 lead on two free throws from Avyanna Young.
“We had seven turnovers in 10 minutes of play, and so when you’re just not giving yourself an opportunity to score, it’s tough,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “And then we weren’t boxing out either, so I think it was a combination of giving up too many offensive rebounds and just not valuing the ball.”
Bluder turned the pressures and emotions of a Senior Day into motivation.
“When coach pulled us into that huddle (in the fourth quarter) and reminded us (that this was their final home game) it kind of lit a fire under us,” Disterhoft said. “It got some of that passion and intensity back.”
Wisconsin pushed its lead to four points early in the final quarter, but Iowa rallied.
“We knew that we weren’t boxing out,” Kastanek said. “We committed to the box out. They’re not getting any more O-boards, and we’re going to get the ball inside because that’s where our highest percentage shots are. We knew what we had to do.”
Kastanek stole the ball and fed Makenzie Meyer for a fastbreak with Ally Disterhoft. Disterhoft converted the break and a foul shot to take the lead 59-58 with 5:13 left.
“I was actually praying they didn’t call a foul on that because I think Chase (Coley) was on the outside, and I ended up just grabbing on the inside and trying not to fall out of bounds,” Kastanek said. “Mak was screaming for the ball, so I hit her and kind of just watched from half court.”
Kastanek made 3-pointers in the next two possessions, and that essentially put away the Badgers. Prior to those shots she had made a spinning layup and missed her only other 3-point attempt.
“I think that’s just a shooter’s mentality,” Kastanek said. “You just know that your percentages are in your favor; if you miss one the next one, percentage-wise, is probably going to go in. The first one I hit, the shot clock was winding down, so it was a little bit further out than a normal shot and a little more contested than one I would take earlier in the shot clock.”
“It was just really fitting to see Lex hit those two threes,” Bluder said. “That’s just like one of those storybook type things. Your senior comes in, hits a couple of threes in that fourth quarter and really gives us great life.”
Young, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, was the star for Wisconsin, scoring 22 points with six rebounds, almost all of which came in the paint. That was key for the Badgers after 6-4 post Malayna Johnson left the game early with a leg injury and never returned.
“That’s a mismatch because she’s a guard playing the post position,” Bluder said. “That’s harder for our post players to contain somebody like that. A lot of that was off offensive rebounds. But we have a mismatch on her too because you saw Ally take her to the hole too.”
Disterhoft had 19 points and six rebounds. She was an offensive key along with Gustafson, who finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Hannah Stewart scored eight points off the bench in only seven minutes of play.
Disterhoft was presented a ball before the game to commemorate her 2,000th point scored. She is now within 37 points of tying for the Iowa career scoring record.
Disterhoft, Kastanek and fellow senior Hailey Schneden were honored after the game with a video presentation and each spoke to the crowd.