By Hawk Fanatic

A road game is often called a business trip, and if that’s the case, the Iowa women’s basketball team took care of business in impressive fashion against Nebraska on Monday in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The 13th-ranked Hawkeyes led almost from start to finish, and by double figures for much of the game, while cruising to an 80-67 victory at Pinnacle Banks Arena.

Iowa improved to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the Big Ten while Nebraska suffered its fifth straight loss, falling to 16-10 and 5-10.

The Hawkeyes have now won at least 20 games in 10 consecutive seasons for the second time in school history.

In addition to sweeping the season series, Iowa also has won 13 of the last 15 games against the Cornhuskers.

Sophomore center Ava Heiden continued her rise to stardom as the 6-foot-4 Oregon native led Iowa with 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field, and with 11 rebounds. It was Heiden’s sixth career double-double and she has now scored in double figures in 13 straight games.

Sophomore guards Taylor Stremlow and Chit-Chat Wright, and freshman forward Journey Houston also scored in double figures for Iowa with 17, 14 and 10 points, respectively. It was a career-high for Stremlow, while Heiden matched her career high for points.

But as much as there was to like about Iowa’s performance on offense, Iowa head coach Jan Jensen seemed even more impressed with the the defense,  which helped to force 18 Nebraska turnovers and held star guard Britt Prince mostly in check as she scored 13 points after having 27 in the first game against Iowa this season.

“We knew that we needed to set the tone, defensively,” Jensen said on the Learfield post-game interview. “Britt Prince is as good as it gets coming off ball-screen action and in the rails especially.”

Jensen mentioned graduate guard Kylie Feuerbach specifically for helping to contain Prince.

“I thought Kylie did an extremely great job keeping her subdued in the beginning, and our interior defense, Ava was plugging really, really well<‘ Jensen said. “Everybody was just really on point for the most part of knowing when to be somewhere, when to help and when not to help.

“I thought the plays of the game were on the defensive end.”

The game started at the unusual time of 11 a.m. and was televised on FOX  to maximize viewership on President’s Day.

Iowa shot 60.4 percent from the field, making 32-of-53 field-goal attempts, and also assisted on 25 of its 32 baskets.

Heiden was virtually unstoppable in the first half as she scored 18 points and missed just one of her nine shots from the field.

Afterwards, Heiden praised her teammates, specifically Stremlow and Wright, for getting her the ball in scoring positions.

“I think I had to be poised for the most part,” Heiden said on the Learfield post-game radio interview. “The guards do a great job of hitting me, too. So a lot of it is them getting into their flow, too; Chat or (Stremlow), all those guys.”

Iowa led 45-27 at the break after having shot 67.9 percent from the field in the first half, making 19-of-28 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range.

Iowa also assisted on 15 of its 19 baskets in the first half.

Iowa’s defense also was effective in the first half, forcing 13 Nebraska turnovers that led to an 18-5 advantage in points off turnovers for the half.

The Hawkeyes expanded the lead to 51-31 in the third quarter, but then Nebraska responded with a 10-1 scoring run, trimming the deficit to 52-41 with 4:27 left in the quarter.

Iowa countered with a 13-1 scoring run and led 65-42 on a breakaway layup by Chit-Chat Wright with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.

Iowa led 69-49 after three quarters and would go on to finish this business trip in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska made a basket 19 seconds into the game to take a 2-0 lead, but then Iowa answered with 10 straight points and would never trail again.

Iowa shot a sizzling 71.4 percent in the first quarter, making 10-of-14 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-6 from three, and led 25-13 heading to the second quarter.

Stremlow made all three of her attempts from three in the first quarter and she led Iowa with nine points in the quarter.

The Hawkeyes did have five turnovers in the first quarter, but it little impact because of well they shot from the field, and especially from three.

Iowa also assisted on eight of its 10 field goals in the first quarter.

The Hawkeyes will stay on the road for their next game at Purdue on Thursday.