No. 10 IU women let double digit lead and Big Ten title hopes slip away at Iowa

Indiana led by as many as 12 but let the lead slip away in the second half as it came up short, 88-82, at Iowa on Monday night.

A 12-0 run midway through the second quarter gave Indiana its largest lead of the game as guard Nicole Cardaño-Hilary scored with 2:34 to go before the half. Iowa came within single digits with six seconds remaining, but it was just enough time for Grace Berger to get the inbound pass and drive to the rim as Indiana took a 52-41 lead at the break.

Iowa shot 69.2 percent in the fourth quarter and scored 26 points as it gained the lead with 5:04 left. Indiana hit just one bucket in the final 1:12 of play and couldn’t get back over the hump.

At 19-6 overall and 11-4 in the Big Ten, Indiana is now one of four teams with four losses in the league.  All four trail Michigan (12-3), and Indiana is in fifth place based on winning percentage.  The Hoosiers have lost three of their last four games.

NOTABLE

• Berger notched her sixth 20^–point game of the season with a team-high 22 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists.
• Three others scored in double figures with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting from Cardaño-Hillary, 13 points from junior forward Mackenzie Holmes and 11 points from graduate student guard Ali Patberg.
• On a bucket with 2:06 to play in the first quarter, Gulbe became the 31^st player in Indiana women’s basketball history to score 1,000 points. She becomes the program’s fourth-active player with 1,000 points in her IU career, joining Berger, Holmes and Patberg. It’s the first time in program history the roster will feature four 1,000-point scorers.
• Indiana scored 30 points off Iowa’s 21 turnovers, 13 second-chance points, 12 points off fast breaks and 15 bench points.
• As a team, IU collected 12 steals with Berger and Cardaño-Hillary each picking up three. 
• The Hoosiers lost the battle on the boards, 37-27.

UP NEXT

The Hoosiers will end the regular season on Friday, Feb. 25 at Maryland. Tipoff in College Park is set for 8 p.m. ET.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

• Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier
• You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier
• Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.