The Hawkeyes are rollin'

[Beattheohiostate]

As I said before the Minnesota game, it appears Jan has figured out her rotations, and the players know their roles. Now it's just go play with your hair on fire, play with confidence, and refuse to lose. And despite the horrible problems they faced in just getting to Minneapolis, that's what these Hawkeyes did last night. They came out with the same energy and intensity they showed against USC and, when things got dicey near the end, they took control--including hitting their free throws when the game was on the line. Awesome performance.

And how about those clutch threes from Affolter and McCabe? Wow. McCabe was off all night and had stopped shooting at all, and then, with the game riding on it, she hits that corner three, firing with total confidence. And Affolter hit a similar shot earlier, both daggers that let the Gophers know this one was over.

Feurerbach's defense, once again, was terrific. Hanna and O'Grady have become a dynamic duo in the post, and everyone is boxing out like they're putting together a rebounding instructional video. It's a joy to watch the combination of fundamentals and intensity.

Guyton and Olsen had off nights, but both did what they needed to do to help get the win. Congrats to Jan and her staff and to the entire team for fighting through this transition season and coming out blazing for the home stretch.

 

[DTP2]

Rutgers + Wisconsin + one more = NCAA lock?

 

[wondergrape]

They are starting to understand how to be quick with the ball. For the previous four years they needed to be quick off the ball and CC would find them. It has taken a major adjustment, and it feels like it is starting to work.

 

[Hendy hawk]

Agree with you, just wish Hanna had developed a shot away from the basket.
Not necessarily a 3, just something away from the basket to help clear the paint.
Sometimes she she's covered by her opponent she throws up a wild shot to draw a foul and gets it blocked, and no foul called results in a turnover.
Replying to Beattheohiost.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

Agree with you, just wish Hanna had developed a shot away from the basket.
Not necessarily a 3, just something away from the basket to help clear the paint.
Sometimes she she's covered by her opponent she throws up a wild shot to draw a foul and gets it blocked, and no foul called results in a turnover.
Replying to Beattheohiost.

Sure, that would be great, but Hanna actually did hit about a 12-foot jumper from the left of the lane last night at crunch time, one of the biggest baskets of the game. I think it's a work in progress, but don't bet against her.

 

[the24fan]

Agree with you, just wish Hanna had developed a shot away from the basket.
Not necessarily a 3, just something away from the basket to help clear the paint.
Sometimes she she's covered by her opponent she throws up a wild shot to draw a foul and gets it blocked, and no foul called results in a turnover.
Replying to Beattheohiost.

She did hit one little baseline jumper there late. That was good to see.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

Sure, that would be great, but Hanna actually did hit about a 12-foot jumper from the left of the lane last night at crunch time, one of the biggest baskets of the game. I think it's a work in progress, but don't bet against her. In the meantime, she's a beast inside and on the boards. That ain't bad.

 

[the24fan]

Sure, that would be great, but Hanna actually did hit about a 12-foot jumper from the left of the lane last night at crunch time, one of the biggest baskets of the game. I think it's a work in progress, but don't bet against her.

lol was typing it as you were .

 

[Hendy hawk]

Sure, that would be great, but Hanna actually did hit about a 12-foot jumper from the left of the lane last night at crunch time, one of the biggest baskets of the game. I think it's a work in progress, but don't bet against her.

Just wish it was more consistent.

 

[ObeseMuffins]

Just wish it was more consistent.

She has drastically improved her FTs. She just needs to unleash that jumper.

Would love to see maybe 5 mins of Addi and Hannah. Hannah on the block and Addi at the high post with her passing ability and seemingly money jump shot.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

Agree with you, just wish Hanna had developed a shot away from the basket.
Not necessarily a 3, just something away from the basket to help clear the paint.
Sometimes she she's covered by her opponent she throws up a wild shot to draw a foul and gets it blocked, and no foul called results in a turnover.
Replying to Beattheohiost.

Yep, if this team was/is to be the best version of itself, hannah must be a 4. She needs a consistent shot from 15'. Trade her shot for Ogrady's and we'd be in much better shape.

 

[cmhawks99]

They are starting to understand how to be quick with the ball. For the previous four years they needed to be quick off the ball and CC would find them. It has taken a major adjustment, and it feels like it is starting to work.

Yes it has, fortunately patience is a strong suit of our fanbase, 🙄doh!!

 

[iowamike21]

lol was typing it as you were .

No problem. Great minds and all . . .

 

[Hawk_4shur]

That was a pretty impressive win. Good Minny team, big crowd, tough travel adventure - and got a much need W.

Minny is a tough out. They scored 23 in the 4th quarter after only 37 in the first 3. Hawks responded with 25 of their own in crunch time.

Hawks didn't shoot well from anywhere really - 41% and only 63.6% FT's. Still won with rebounding and defense.

Only 28 minutes from the bench not counting AO, including 15 from AG. Pretty short bench.

14 turnovers is much, much better than the 25 or 30 they were doing in the first couple of months.

Congrats to Jan. The team is getting better.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Agree with all of the observations here, but will add...I noticed that Affolter was getting rebounds, but did not realize until the end just how many. Good on her, every one of those was big.

 

[QChawks]

Syd & Kylie are the biggest wildcards for this team. When they are hitting shots, it makes them a completely different team.

Hannah and McCabe are way too streaky, and we know what we are going to get from AOG.

When Lucy isn't on fire have another slasher or outside scoring option is huge.

 

[citizenHawk]

Once they discarded the idea of Hannah and Addison playing at the same time, it opened the lane. They then emphasized the importance of the guards getting to the lane to distribute from there, which created some actual offense and open shots. This was the end of the post feed turnovers from the wing, which is what Jensen was harping about, just took time to get everyone on the same page. Also allowed Lucy Olsen to have her game back. Now that they are getting shots, winning requires making them.

At the same time, they are starting to wake up to the idea of playing that first ten minutes with better effort on defense (and rebounding). USC and Minny shot terrible in the 1st quarters, but the defense has a lot to do with that. Keeping the opponent under 10 in a quarter is elite no matter how you do it.

I questioned the decisions to shoot the 3-pointers inside 2 minutes. The Affolter shot was put up because they ran out of clock, so maybe that wasn't what they ideally wanted, but it worked. And McCabe put hers in like there was nothing but confidence to drain it. Minnesota was hitting and the Iowa players wanted to win. No hesitation about playing to win after the small lead all slipped away in the 4th. I think Affolter's post-game comments reflect that.

They can win the next two, and I think they have a legit shot with 1 of 3 vs. OSU, UCLA, Michigan.

 

[AMAYS]

I would say the Hawkeye are grinding, not rolling. Still lots to work on, but they are improving.

 

[hawkod]

I would say the Hawkeye are grinding, not rolling. Still lots to work on, but they are improving.

Grinding is good...it's a level above just playing.
Next level is refusing to lose...

 

[MitchLL]

Still can't understand why the free throw shooting isn't better.

Has cost them at least 2/3 games.

 

[retrodent]

Agree with you, just wish Hanna had developed a shot away from the basket.
Not necessarily a 3, just something away from the basket to help clear the paint.
Sometimes she she's covered by her opponent she throws up a wild shot to draw a foul and gets it blocked, and no foul called results in a turnover.
Replying to Beattheohiost.

Hanna needs to get her 4 position crap together so Ava is not wasted

 

[SCHawkFan]

Grinding is good...it's a level above just playing.
Next level is refusing to lose...

They hit that level Sunday and last night. They would have likely lost both games in December.

 

[acuhawk]

I would say the Hawkeye are grinding, not rolling. Still lots to work on, but they are improving.

Bingo I feel like if they were rolling they would have got over 20 point lead the first half. Felt like they let Minnesota hang around with several wasted offensive possessions. Still really big improvement they are getting better that was a big win. Now they need to never pass the ball again if there's under 5 seconds on the shot clock that is happening too much.

 

[wondergrape]

Hanna needs to get her 4 position crap together so Ava is not wasted

That ship has sailed, friend. Ava’s time starts next year.