Two nights in a winter horrorland. Two conference rivals. The same result.
Fresh off a commanding 84-57 victory over what was supposed to be their biggest conference challenge in then-No. 14 Indiana, No. 2 Iowa brought the heat on another bitterly cold—though less than blizzard-like—evening, dispatching visiting Wisconsin in dominating fashion 96-50.
Tuesday night’s game mirrored Saturday’s in the sense that it was low scoring at the outset, with neither side establishing momentum. Iowa led 19-15 after the first quarter. That turned out to be the only similarity, as the Hawkeyes eventually went on a 27-15 run to begin the second quarter—and they never looked back. The Hawkeyes held the Badgers to exactly 20 points in the second half, a testament to their defensive prowess. They forced the Badgers to turnover the ball 28 times, had 17 steals and held leading-scorer Serah Williams, who finished with 19 points, to only four points in the second half.
While Iowa had a slight edge in points in the paint (26-20), second-chance points (13-10), and fastbreak points (10-7), the Hawkeyes overwhelmed the Badgers in points off turnovers (42-14) and bench points (38-4). The latter of which is something that head coach Lisa Bluder takes great pride in. “I really believe…
