No. 16 Iowa women hold off Cyclones 73-70
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Tania Davis drilled the game-winning 3 with 2.3 seconds to go and 16th-ranked Iowa held off Iowa State 73-70 on Wednesday night, giving the Hawkeyes three straight wins in the series for the first time in over two decades.
Kathleen Doyle scored 22 points in her first game back from a broken hand and Megan Gustafson had 13 with 16 rebounds for Iowa (6-2), which won 10 in a row from 1982-96.
But the Cyclones made the Hawkeyes sweat out their sixth consecutive home win in the rivalry.
Iowa State star Bridget Carleton fought through traffic for a layup that gave Iowa State a 69-68 lead with 49 seconds to go, but Doyle - who missed the first seven games - swung the advantage back to Iowa with free throws 13 second later.
Carleton tied it 70-all on a free throw. But she missed a second one, giving Iowa the ball with the shot clocks turned off. The Hawkeyes drained the seconds down, and Davis used a step-back to find just enough space to drain a 3 from the wing.
The Hawkeyes then all converged on Carleton, leaving freshman Ashley Joens - who grew up in Iowa City - wide open for a corner 3. But Joens' effort went long as the buzzer sounded.
Carleton had 21 points and Alexa Middleton scored 20 to lead Iowa State (6-2).
THE BIG PICTURE
Iowa: The Hawkeyes needed this one. They followed a close loss to Florida State with a blowout defeat at No. 1 Notre Dame, and three losses before the middle of December would've been tough to swallow in a season with such high expectations.
Iowa State: What an effort by the Cyclones, who fell out of the Top 25 this week after an ugly loss at South Dakota. Iowa State showed resolve in rallying from a 13-point deficit, and it can make the 140-mile bus ride back to Ames knowing they would have won had they not gone just 9 of 17 from the line.
UP NEXT
Iowa faces IUPUI at home on Saturday.
Iowa State hosts North Dakota on Sunday.