After losing four games in a row, the Indiana women’s basketball program found themselves squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and in desperate need of a win.
Enter the No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes.
There is no team in the Big Ten that presents a bigger challenge on the floor, and a better opportunity to enhance a NCAA resume.
IU was up to the task on Thursday night.
The Hoosiers completed a major second half comeback and then fought to preserve a late lead to gut out a 75-73 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
After Iowa tied the game with less than 20 seconds remaining, Hoosier head coach Teri Moren trusted her players and elected to not call a time out.
Sophomore guard Bendu Yeaney used her speed to get to the rim for a runner with 3.8 seconds remaining.
Iowa had a final chance, but Yeaney blocked a game-winning three-pointer and Indiana came up with the loose ball and secured a major upset win.
A look at the top plays from @IndianaWBB's exciting 75-73 victory over Iowa. pic.twitter.com/me5PyjWG0K
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) February 22, 2019
It didn’t look like things would turn out this way for Indiana.
Iowa All-American Megan Gustafson hit a jump shot with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter to give the Hawkeyes a 49-33 lead. Iowa appeared to be on track for a runaway win.
But that’s when it started raining Hoosier three-pointers.
Brenna Wise and Ali Patberg each hit two three-pointers to close out the third quarter as Indiana cut the lead to 54-51.
Iowa would stretch the lead back out to eight early in the fourth, but seven more quick points from Wise gave IU their first lead of the game. From there the Hoosiers would hold on after the late heroics from Yeaney.
Wise led the way for IU with 24 points and 12 rebounds. In her first game back after missing two weeks with a shoulder injury, Patberg hit six three-pointers on her way to 21 points and 7 assists.
Indiana was happy to see Patberg return to action. The Hoosiers lost all four games that she missed.
IU (18-10, 7-9) closes out the regular season with a road trip to Northwestern before returning home for a senior day finale against Purdue.
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