By Hawk Fanatic

Iowa senior forward Syd Affolter does all sorts of things to help her team win games, most notably rebounding where she leads the team in that category despite only standing 5-foot-11.

But it was her scoring that played such a key role in Iowa’s 79-66 win over Michigan on Wednesday in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Affolter led three Iowa players in double figures with a career-high 24 points, including 14 in the first quarter.

The Chicago native also did her usual work on the boards, finishing with a team-high 11 rebounds. It marked the fourth straight game that Affolter has finished with double figures in rebounding.

Affolter made all four of her shots from 3-point range, with each coming in the first quarter, and she made 9-of-12 shots overall while playing 36 minutes.

“Just having the confidence and my teammates gave me some great passes, so I obviously can’t do it without them,” Affolter said on the Learfield post-game radio interview. “Just having confidence in my shot. I know I’m a good scorer, just having that scorer’s mentality at all points in the game.”

Iowa, which has won five straight games over Michigan, improved to 9-8 in Big Ten play and 19-9 overall while the Wolverines fell to 10-7 and 19-9.

Iowa will finish the regular season against Wisconsin on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa was coming off an emotional 67-65 loss to third-ranked UCLA last Sunday in Iowa City, but Iowa head coach Jan Jensen saw no signs of a hangover or letdown as her players moved on from the defeat.

“I am so grateful for this win and beyond proud of this team because as they have the whole year, they just keep showing up,” Jensen said on the Learfield post-game interview. “And today at shoot-around I just talked about relentless pursuit. I said that’s what we’ve been doing regardless of the disappointments and the setbacks is they’re just relentless, and that’s what it’s going to take tonight.”

“Because there was one or two ways we could have gone after that heartbreaker to UCLA and they showed up Monday practice, big time. Tuesday, do the scout, and I just kept saying, ‘guys, this is who you are.’ And so for them to come and get a win at a tough place to play.”

With Wednesday’s victory, Iowa has secured at least a .500 record in conference play under Jensen, who is in her first season as head coach.

A win over the Badgers on Sunday would give Iowa a 10-8 record in conference play.

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen scored 20 points for Iowa in Wednesday’s victory, while junior forward Hannah Stuelke finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

Iowa shot 52.5 percent from the field and made 10-of-18 shots from 3-point range.

Affolter did her best Caitlin Clark impersonation in the first quarter as she made all five of her field-goal attempts, including four from 3-point range, and scored 14 points.

Affolter entered Wednesday’s game averaging 7.9 points per game.

Olsen was held scoreless in the first quarter, and yet, Iowa still led 25-18 heading to the second quarter.

Olsen found her shooting touch in the second quarter as she scored 16 points in the 10-minute quarter to help give Iowa a commanding 49-32 lead at halftime.

Michigan only shot 41 percent in the first half and committed eight turnovers, while Iowa shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and committed just four turnovers.

Iowa has won seven of its last nine games.