By Hawk Fanatic

For the first time in its last 12 games in the Big Ten Tournament, the Iowa women’s basketball team has ended up on the losing side.

Iowa fell to Ohio State 60-59 in the quarterfinals on Friday in Indianapolis as Hannah Stuelke’s baseline jumper in the final seconds bounced off the rim.

The Hawkeyes were trying to win what would have been a record fourth straight Big Ten Tournament championship under first-year head coach Jan Jensen.

Former Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder, who retired last May after having led Iowa to NCAA runner-up finishes in each of the past two seasons, and former all-everything point guard guard Caitlin Clark, who led the historic rise under Bluder, both attended Friday’s game, and Clark did all she could to inspire her former team from her courtside seat.

Iowa falls to 22-10 and now waits to learn where it will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament.

Lucy Olsen, Hannah Stuelke and Syd Affolter all led Iowa with 14 points, but Olsen was held to just two points in the second half.

Iowa shot just 39 percent from the field (23-of-59) and made just seven of 21 3-point shots.

Ohio State also struggled from the field, making just 20-of-63 field-goal attempts.

But with the game on the line, Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon made two free throws with six seconds left to play that proved to be difference.

Affolter made back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter to give Iowa a 59-58 lead, but it wasn’t enough as Iowa would go on to lose for just third time in its last 13 games.

“I love playing with this group and we’re all super close friends and I’m just excited to get back on the court with them,” Affolter said on the Learfield-post game interview. “I love playing with them.”

The Buckeyes led by as many as nine points in the first half, but Iowa closed the half on a 7-2 scoring run and trailed by just one point (29-28) at halftime.

Olsen was aggressive on offense from the start as she took nine shots in the first quarter and six in the second quarter.

The Villanova transfer scored 12 points in the first half, but was just 5-of-15 from the field.

Both teams struggled to with turnovers in the first half, combining for 21, including 11 by Iowa.

Both teams also shot less than 40 percent from the field in the first half, making this Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal a defensive grinder, at least for one half.

The second half would continue to be a struggle for both teams on offense as the Buckeyes didn’t make a field goal in the final four minutes, and yet still prevailed.

Iowa freshman center Ava Heiden continued her last-season surge, scoring 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Oregon native scored 11 points in the win over Michigan State in the second round on Thursday.