Iowa shook off a slow start for its offense and a 10-point first-half deficit to overwhelm host Penn State late, 80-68, in a New Year's Day clash in Happy Valley. Reserve junior guard Taylor McCabe led the Hawkeyes in scoring for the first time in her career with 17 points, including 5-for-8 shooting from deep, while center Addi O'Grady added 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting.
Penn State guard Gabby Elliott scored 32 points in the losing effort, including shooting 7-for-11 from deep.
THE DEEP THREE
1. The One (Taylor's Version). Though McCabe's extended minutes this season have reflected the team's trust in her overall skillset, her biggest impact on Iowa's games still comes from behind the arc, including on Wednesday.
"Taylor McCabe is one of the best pure shooters that I've ever seen, and her shot selection is impeccable," said Iowa assistant coach Randi Henderson after the game. "So it gives everybody confidence when she catches it that it's going in."
McCabe's 5-for-8 deep shooting not only lapped the rest of her team (who combined for just 2-for-13 from three), but her two makes early in the second quarter helped Iowa wrest control of the game back from the highly motivated Nittany Lions.
"Those of us who have been here and know what it's like [on the road in the Big Ten], just have to step up for a little bit right away and ease nerves, and be the ones who are in charge mentally and emotionally," said McCabe. "I was glad I got to step up into that role today, and try that new experience. I feel like that gave me a lot more confidence out on the floor, and I was ready to roll."
Roll she did, on both ends of the floor. While Elliott was single-handedly keeping the Nittany Lions in the game, fellow backcourt weapon Moriah Murray — the Big Ten's leading three-point shooter coming into the game — was effectively silenced by McCabe and the Hawkeye defense, with only two chips-and-salsa-time points to show for her afternoon.
"[Murray] was one of the key players for us today," said Henderson. "The two-pointer that she made, was us running her off the three-point line, so I love the way we're playing scout.
Murray did hoist seven shots from three-point land, but missed them all, with McCabe's defense a significant factor. That Iowa could get that sort of performance out of McCabe in replacement of Feuerbach, who managed just 10 embattled minutes Wednesday before McCabe took over the rotation, means the coaches can still trust their perimeter defense without #4 on the floor.
"[Defense] is definitely something I take so much pride in," said McCabe. "I'm glad the coaches feel like they can give me some good assignments and trust me to take care of that."
2. McCabe and the Good Seeds. While McCabe led the bench mob with 28 minutes Wednesday, all five of Iowa's rotation reserves logged double-digit minutes in the win. That includes an entire fourth quarter played for McCabe, while center Ava Heiden closed out the last six minutes of the game on the court. Heiden had eight points, three rebounds and a block in 12 minutes, while Taylor Stremlow logged five assists in her own 12 minutes.
"That's the key: our youth is coming in and contributing," said Jensen. "All of them played solid. You don't even notice Aaliyah [Guyton]. I don't know what she played, 10-12 minutes, but she ran it, she held, gave Lucy a little bit of a breather, but they're all contributing. The productivity of those kids coming off the bench is really, really great to see."
Jensen was right — 11 minutes for Guyton, and the lightest impact on the scoresheet of the bunch, with a made three-pointer and two fouls the only recorded stats, but Iowa was a +1 in those 11 minutes, most of which came with Olsen on the bench. Olsen's bench minutes also kept her legs fresh enough to finally close out the game in the fourth quarter, when Iowa took the lead for good.
"She had a frustrating game, she wasn't really hitting how she normally does," said Henderson of Olsen. "And she just didn't let that shake her. And she made really, really huge plays down the stretch for us."
Olsen made three of her four baskets in the last 3:31 of the game, after starting off 1-10. She added two assists in the final frame as well as Iowa blitzed the game but overmatched Nittany Lions down the stretch.
"When we needed to close, boy, [we] closed," said Jensen. "That's the mark of potentially a really good team, especially when we have this young of people playing."
3. So You're A Nittany Lion? That Don't Press Me Much. Penn State saw the formula against the Hawkeyes from their losses to Tennessee and Michigan State: press, press and press some more, until the turnovers come in bunches.
While the Nittany Lions tried to conjure up the same chaos Wednesday, Iowa kept its miscues to a minimum, allowing only six steals and 12 total turnovers to the Lady Lions, even breaking the press to force easy layups and get Penn State to relax into halfcourt sets instead.
"I thought we really handled the pressure tonight," said Jensen. "We've been learning and growing. ... We made [PSU] pay with layups at least two times, which is what you want to do when you break a press. So I thought there was a lot of growth there."
Iowa's cohesion as an offensive unit continues to show up in its passing, as the team assisted on 24 of its 33 baskets Wednesday. Five Iowa players registered at least three assists, including Syd Affolter with a team-high six, and Olsen and Hannah Stuelke (13 points, 10 rebounds) dropped four dimes apiece after halftime.
"We improve every single game," said Stuelke. "Yeah, I do a lot of things, but that's what we need. I think all of us are starting to mesh really well together, so it's been really fun experiencing something new."
The staff sees it the same way — an exciting work-in-progress.
"We're becoming a team that is playing as a unit, playing together," said Henderson. "We're starting to grow and learn from our press break woes, and getting a little bit more confident, and a little more aggressive and assertive. And today, we definitely dribbled less and passed more against the press, and ended up with more transition layups. So let's just keep that going."
Iowa's next game is a big one, returning to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face No. 8 Maryland on Sunday, January 5. That game will also feature a celebration of retired head coach Lisa Bluder's career, and tips off at 5 PM on the Big Ten Network.
