It seemed as if there was light at the end of the tunnel for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
They were on cusp of ending their three-game losing streak with a 65-53 lead over Nebraska with 6:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Hannah Stuelke had a double-double. Aaliyah Guyton was the freshman spark. Lucy Olsen was solid from midrange. Kylie Feuerbach came alive after struggling in the last three games. Addison O’Grady scored in bunches in the paint. Sydney Affolter crashed the boards and scored at the right time.
Their defense was tip-top and it seemed as if there was nothing the Huskers could do to break through. All seemed right, but there was one thing keeping the Hawkeyes from getting the monkey off their back: free throw shooting.
As the Cornhuskers quickly came back with an 8-0 run to pull within three with 4:50 left in the game, the Hawkeyes struggled to generate points from the stripe. They went 5-for-12 and found themselves in a panic over the prospect of another loss. Yet, the Hawkeyes had possession with the game tied at 77 with 2.6 seconds left. Guyton took it the hole, going for the winning layup at the buzzer, but to no avail.
Over the course of a five-minute overtime, free throws told the story. The Cornhuskers scored all of their 10 points at the line as the…
