By Hawk Fanatic

The Iowa women’s basketball team overcame committing 20 turnovers, missing nine free throws, making just three baskets from 3-point range and Ava Heiden being in foul trouble to defeat Northwestern, 67-58, on Monday at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.

Fortunately for No. 14 Iowa, the 6-foot-4 Heiden played enough to score 23 points in just 18 minutes and her team needed all of her points to withstand Northwestern’s late run, which included making back-to-back 3-point baskets in just 15-seconds late in the fourth quarter.

Iowa improved to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten under second-year head coach Jan Jensen, while Northwestern fell to 6-9 and 0-4 under veteran head coach Joe McKeown, who will retire after the season.

“I think road wins are just hard games regardless who you’re playing or where you’re at,” Heiden said on the Big Ten Network post-game interview. “For us, we just knew that it had to be a gritty win and I think we were able to come out and do that tonight.”

Heiden made 9-of-11 field-goal attempts and was unstoppable early in the first half as she scored Iowa’s first 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field,

But she only played six minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls and she didn’t score again in the half.

Iowa struggled on offense without Heiden in the first half, committing 12 turnovers before halftime.

Northwestern also slowed the pace down, forcing Iowa to play in half-court sets more than in transition, and that strategy worked throughout the game.

But even with Heiden on the bench, Iowa closed the first half on a 6-0 scoring run and led 32-29 at halftime.

Iowa only made 11-of-28 field-goal attempts in the first half, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range.

Northwestern continued to control the pace of the game in the third quarter, but Iowa closed the quarter on a 6-0 scoring as Heiden scored all six points, including making a mid-range jump shot in the final second of the quarter, giving Iowa a 50-44 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

Iowa outscored the Wildcats 17-14 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Sophomore point guard Chit-Chat Wright was the only other player for Iowa to score in double figures with 12 points.

The Hawkeyes controlled the boards, finishing with a 39-30 rebounding advantage.

But the game still proved to be a grind as Northwestern stayed within striking distance and kept Iowa from dictating the style of play.

“They did a good job,” Heiden said of Northwestern. “That’s definitely the name of the game for Iowa basketball, we love transition. But I think we were able to capitalize a little bit more in the half court and jus try to get those free boards and second-chance opportunities ans stuff like that.”