By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A gritty, efficient and slick-shooting Fairfield squad showed right away that it wasn’t intimidated by facing the 11th-ranked and undefeated Iowa women’s basketball team on Iowa’s home court.

The Stags led by 11 points (22-11) in the first quarter and then stayed within striking distance for the entire game, mostly from making 18 shots from 3-point range, which tied a Carver-Hawkeye Arena record.

But Iowa’s size, versatility and 3-point shooting from an unlikely source eventually was too much for Fairfield to overcome as Iowa prevailed 86-72 on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Graduate guard Kylie Feuerbach, who is known mostly for her defense, overcame foul trouble to score a Hawkeye personal best 17 points. She also scored 17 points as a freshman for Iowa State before transferring to Iowa.

Feuerbach made four of Iowa’s 10 3-point baskets in Sunday’s win, all of which came in the second half. She entered Sunday’s game having made just 3 of 17 shots from behind the arc this season.

“I think it’s just continuing to trust that it’s going to fall because of that extra work,” Feuerbach said. “So it felt really nice.”

Sophomore center Ava Heiden led four Iowa players in double figures with 18 points, while also grabbing a career-best 16 rebounds.

Iowa improved to 8-0 for the second-straight season under second-year head coach Jan Jensen, and for the fifth time program history, while Fairfield fell to 4-2.

The Stags made six shots from 3-point range in the first quarter and nine in the fourth quarter to say within striking distance.

But they had no answer for Iowa’s size as Heiden and her cohorts had a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint and 44-26 rebounding advantage.

“That was part of the game plan,” said the 6-foot-4 Heiden, who already has five double-doubles this season. “We knew that they were going to be a little bit of an undersized team. They did have the three-point shooting capability. But undersized is definitely what we were looking for from them.”

Feuerbach made a three to give Iowa a 52-42 lead with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

Sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow then made a shot from underneath the basket with one second left in the third quarter to give Iowa 56-45 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

The Stags refused to wilt, though, as they made nine shots from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, scoring all 27 of their points in the fourth quarter on threes.

Fairfield’s problem was that it hardly could get any stops on defense in the fourth quarter as Iowa scored 30 points, made four 3-pointers and 8 of 10 free throws over the final 10 minutes.

Iowa played its third straight game without starting point guard Chit-Chat Wright due to what has been described as an upper-body injury that she suffered in the win over Baylor on Nov. 20 in Orlando, Florida.

Sophomore forwards Emely Rodriguez and Teagan Mallegni also missed Sunday’s game for health reasons.

“I did not plan on being down the people that were down,” Jan Jensen said in her post-game press conference. “I was really hopeful Chit-Chat was going to be back because I knew how difficult this game was to guard.

“So I think beating this team is a really good win. And to do it without Chit-Chat, arguably our most efficient player right now, or has been on both sides of the ball. and she’s turned into our team leader out there, and that captain That was a really, really great win because that team is a really good team.”

Fairfield came out firing from long distance as expected, making six threes in the first quarter. That helped the Stags build a 22-17 lead after one quarter, and it showed that Iowa was facing a legitimate threat.

Iowa also dealt with foul problems in the first half as Feuerbach was whistled for three fouls, while Heiden, Stremlow and senior forward Hannah Stuelke all had two fouls before halftime and were all sitting on the bench when the first half ended

Stremlow picked up her second foul when she was called for a technical foul with 3:37 left in the second quarter. She apparently said something after blocking a shot by Fairfield guard Janelle Brown.

Whatever the case, Iowa fans didn’t like the call and spent the rest of the second quarter letting the three officials know it with a loud chorus of boos. Fans also booed loudly as the three officials left the court at halftime.

Stremlow’s technical seemed to energize both her team and the fans.

“I assume when the big block happened, the kid (Fairfield player) just happened to be there and (Taylor) was like, yeah, it appears because Taylor is not a true trash talker,” Jensen said “I’ve coached a few. We will not name names on that.

“But I think it was just her exuberance. And so they probably had to call it.”

Stremlow filled in for Wright again at point guard and finished with nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.

Fairfield cooled down from long distance in the second quarter, making just 1 of 9 shots from behind the arc.

Iowa outscored Fairfield 24-13 in the second quarter and led 41-35 at halftime.

Freshmen Addie Deal and Journey Houston provided a huge spark off the bench in the first half as they both scored seven points. Deal also had three of Iowa’s five steals in the first half.

The former five-star recruit from Irvine, California was coming off her best game as a Hawkeye as she scored 17 points and had five assists in the 86-69 win over Western Illinois last Wednesday.

Iowa had a 24-12 rebounding advantage in the first half and shot 53.6 percent from the field, and yet, still only led by six points heading into the third quarter.

Senior guard Taylor McCabe made three 3-point baskets in the first half and led Iowa with 10 points in the half, while playing the entire 20 minutes.

Iowa now has almost a week after before facing Rutgers in the Big Ten opener next Saturday in Piscataway, New Jersey.