By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – While there is no such thing as a good loss, something good still can come from a defeat as shown by the Iowa women’s basketball team Wednesday in Ames.

Because the way in which Iowa lost on the road against a very good Iowa State squad is certainly no reason to be disappointed.

Jan Jensen’s squad could have easily wilted under the pressure after falling behind by 17 points in the third quarter, and in one of the toughest road environments in the country.

Hilton Coliseum in Ames is where opponents often get humbled, and sometimes, get thrashed.

Iowa was on the verge of being thrashed, but the Iowa players didn’t allow that to happen as they cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter before falling, 74-69.

Iowa (9-1) was a Taylor McCabe 3-point basket from tying the score late in the fourth quarter, but her shot, which came on a designed play that helped her get open, just didn’t go in the basket.

Even great 3-point shooters like Taylor McCabe miss more than half of their shots from 3-point range, and this was just one of those misses that happened to come at a bad time.

NBA great Stephen Curry, now widely regarded as the greatest shooter in league history, has a career average of about 42.3 percent from 3-point range, meaning he misses more than half of his attempts.

McCabe will almost certainly have more chances to be a hero, and it could come when Iowa looks to rebound against Lindenwood on Saturday in the final nonconference home game of the season, though Iowa is a heavy favorite and could win by a wide margin.

But then it’s back on the big stage as Iowa will face top-ranked Connecticut a week from this Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.

“I feel much more positive than negative,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said in her post-game press conference. “I just think it was a great five-point game. It was within a possession. Had McCabe hit that play we drew up, it was tied. It was that close even with a heck of run that they orchestrated. But yet, we clawed back. So I’m really pleased. I think people watching that game, I think it was a fun game.

“I think we hopefully enhanced why we want to watch women’s sports.”

One of the positives to take from Wednesday’s loss was the performance of sophomore point guard Chit-Chat Wright, who led Iowa with 21 points and showed no noticeable effects from the upper-body injury that had caused her to miss three straight games.

The 5-foot-4 Wright was described as being more of a pass-first point guard when she transferred from Georgia Tech this past summer.

And while she has been a willing passer and facilitator, Wright also has been a willing shooter, even from 3-point range. She made 4-of-9 shots from 3-point range against the Cyclones, and her nine attempts were the most for any Iowa player.

If Wright stays healthy and continues to perform at the level she has so far as a Hawkeye, this Iowa team will be difficult to defeat.

“I felt great coming into the game,” Wright said. “I just knew with my first real game back that there was going to be some highs and lows. So I just tried to stay really level-headed throughout the game, and just rely on my teammates to give me that confidence.”

Iowa sophomore center Ava Heiden was in foul trouble against Iowa State, due mostly from having to guard Iowa State center Audi Crooks, who finished with 30 points.

The 6-4 Heiden only played 16 minutes, but she still scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.

She has to learn from this experience and figure a way to still be aggressive on defense without fouling because her team obviously needs Heiden to play more than 16 minutes.

Iowa also needs for senior forward Hannah Stuelke to score more than 10 points, which was her total against Iowa State.

Stuelke was a force on the boards against the Cyclones as she grabbed 15 rebounds.

But she only made 5-of-14 field-goal attempts, with some of her misses coming from short range.

The 6-2 Stuelke has been spectacular as a Hawkeye in so many ways. Her ability to run the court separates the Cedar Rapids native from most power forwards and centers.

But there are times when Stuelke struggles to make shots in the paint, and the loss to Iowa State was one of those times.

Stuelke has to keep shooting, though, because she is too talented to not feature on offense.

The benefit from Wright having missed three games is that it allowed for sophomore Taylor Stremlow to fill in at point guard, and Stremlow more than held her own as a passer, scorer and floor general.

She only played nine minutes and scored two points against the Cyclones, but that was probably because Wright was playing so well.

But Jensen can take comfort in knowing that she has a reliable second option at point guard as Iowa prepares for the Big Ten grind.

Freshman guard Addie Deal, a former five-star recruit from Irvine, California, only played six minutes against Iowa State and missed all four of her field-goal attempts.

Deal came to Iowa with incredibly high expectations, but sometimes, that can be a burden and can create unrealistic expectations.

Former Hawkeye Caitlin Clark made the transition from high school to major college basketball look incredibly easy.

But Caitlin Clark is also a once-in-a-lifetime player, a generational talent who defied logic.

Deal obviously has talent because you don’t rise to five-star status in California without it.

She just needs more time to adjust to the speed of the game, and to its physicality.

The good news is that Iowa has enough talent and depth to allow for Deal to make that adjustment without trying to rush her.

It will also help to get sophomore forward Emely Rodriguez back from an injury because she is a gifted scorer, and team can never have enough gifted scorers.

Rodriguez has made some head-scratching decisions on the court at times this season. But her ability to score makes her a valuable piece to what is an intriguing puzzle.

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