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You never want to lose that unblemished conference record. You never want to blow a decent-sized fourth quarter lead on the road. You hate to lose in overtime. You don't want to let your rival catch you. You don't even want your rival to think they are good enough to be considered your rival. You don't want to be on the wrong side of a court rush. You don't want to get rocked during said court rush. You don't want to maybe-flop-while-getting-rocked in said court rush.
But all of these events did happen -- and I still think things are going pretty great.
I kid, I kid.
Buried in analyzing the post-game Zapruder film footage of Iowa's 100-92 loss to Ohio State was a damn good basketball game. Likely harped on this a few times already this season, but I continuously am impressed by the majority of the Big Ten teams Iowa has played this year. Obviously your Ohio States and Indianas are genuinely good, but even some of the squads Iowa blew out continued to fight and do their damndest to dig out of holes as Iowa nailed threes, scored deflating buckets in transition, and generally never let them come up for air.
Well, last Sunday, Ohio State broke through the surface -- in a big way. Jacy Sheldon has that lethal mix of talent *and* right place, right time scoring. Rebeka Mikulasikova has the range, size, and syllables. And if you didn't know who Cotie McMahon was before, you know her now.
I remember first seeing McMahon play in person, covering last season's Big Ten Tournament championship game in March. She dropped 23 points and took the most shots of anyone in the game (yes, one more than Caitlin Clark herself). At no point did I think she was anything but a fifth year senior based on her game, leadership, and look, so it was a very "wut" moment to find out she was only a few weeks removed from Freshman of the Year honors.
I've been writing in this space long enough to know a "But Bobby, this is an Iowa blog -- why are you talking about Ohio State this much?" comment is incoming. Fair enough. Please know I say all of this to say Ohio State has people -- and they can play.
But I know you know Iowa does, too.
Losing that game, truly, did not bother me. What did is the multitude of people in my life who hit me up only to say "What's up with your girl?! Flop, right?"
The AP lead even got colorful: Caitlin Clark got upset and then upended.
Yeah, yeah, yeah -- chase those clicks (and it was a legitimate story, at least at first, so no shame in doing so).
I know box scores tend to wash away when you lose, but Iowa's had some stellar spots worth saving. Clark dropped 45 on 12-of-25 shooting. Molly Davis dished eight assists and dropped 14 points, missing only one shot; she is locked. in. Addison O'Grady, the third string center (on paper, at least), put a nice game together, always rolling with the punches when she's thrust into action.
Gabbie Marshall was a menace on defense (what else is new?).
They just needed to close. But clearly, they have that ability.
All season, I've been waiting for this team to have The Look. Very unfairly, I wanted them to start game one executing and humming as brilliantly as I remembered them playing in last year's title game run. But it truly is a process. Even with all the continuity, you still have to reset at the beginning of every season. At the end of the day, this team lost two starters, and it was always going to take some time as players settled into new roles.
But that time is now. Hannah Stuelke can make more free throws, Gabbie can get a little more dribble penetration, Kate Martin can stay out of foul trouble. There will always be things to work on, but even in losing to Ohio State, I am confident this team is very much rounding into form. Last year isn't unattainable; it's accessible.
There will be more games and many more chances to prove it. And I certainly wouldn't blame them if they're already circling March 3 -- when the Buckeyes come to Carver.
Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Find him on Twitter @bobbystompy, Instagram @bobbystompy, or email at bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.
