ETHAN PETRIK Iowa Hawkeyes Beat Reporter
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- No. 21 Iowa dropped its Big Ten Conference opener 68-66 on the road to No. 17 Michigan State on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes (9-2, 0-1 Big Ten) led by as much as nine in the fourth quarter, but a late run from the Spartans (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) proved insurmountable.
Head coach Jan Jensen spoke critically of her team during a postgame interview with the Hawkeye Radio Network.
"We were average," Jensen said. "We were good with the pressure in the first half, average with decision-making with turnovers.
"We had some moments (offensively). ... It just never got a fluid flow in the that second half."
Iowa and Michigan State traded baskets throughout the opening frame on Sunday, but a 5-0 run over the final 1:14 of the quarter allowed the Spartans to take a 16-12 lead after 10 minutes.
The Hawkeyes connected on 4-of-12 field goal attempts (33.3%) in the first quarter. Hannah Stuelke powered the sputtering offense with seven points in the quarter on 2-of-2 shooting and 3-of-3 on free throws.
In the second quarter, Iowa's offense started to shake off its early struggles as it opened the frame with a 7-1 surge. After going scoreless for just over two minutes, Iowa outscored Michigan State 12-5 over the final four minutes of the half to take a 33-28 lead at the break. Stuelke finished the first half with 12 points and five rebounds.
Michigan State trimmed the Iowa lead to three-points over the first three minutes of the second half, but a 9-3 run from the Hawkeyes allowed Iowa to build a nine-point advantage -- its largest lead of the game.
After Iowa took a 46-37 lead, the Spartans closed the third quarter by outscoring Iowa 12-6 to trim the lead to 52-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kylie Feuerbach cashed in on back-to-back three-pointers to start the fourth quarter and increase Iowa's lead back to nine. An 18-2 run behind 12 points from Nyla Hampton allowed the Spartans to take a 67-60 lead with 3:17 remaining in regulation.
Iowa managed to trim the gap to two points but missed three shots with a chance to tie in the final minute.
Stuelke led Iowa with 18 points and eight rebounds. Lucy Olsen added 12 and Feuerbach finished with 12.
Julia Ayrault led Michigan State with 19 points. Grace VanSlooten (14) and Hampton (13) also reached double figures.
The Hawkeyes return to action Friday with a home matchup against Northern Iowa (5-5, 0-0 Missouri Valley). The final in-state matchup of the season for Iowa tips off at 6:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena with broadcast coverage provided by Big Ten+ (subscription required).
"We got our work cut out for us to see if this defense is going to hold," Jensen said. "In-state rivalry games are always a lot of fun for fans, but they are very stressful on the coaches. ... Coming off a loss, we need to continue to improve."
Hawkeyes' defense returned to form, not enough
Iowa State scored the second-most points allowed by Iowa (75) this season in the first game since the Volunteers scored the most (78) allowed by the Hawkeyes. Following back-to-back games of the defense being tested, Iowa stymied the Spartans on the offensive end throughout Sunday's win.
The Hawkeyes limited the Big Ten's top offense to 28 points and 10-of-26 (38.5%) from the floor in the first half and 40 points and 13-of-32 (40.6%) in the second half.
Even after Michigan State's 18-2 scoring run to pull ahead in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes' held Michigan State scoreless for over three minutes to get a chance to tie the game in the final minute.
"I liked our first half," Jensen said. "Defense has been holding the whole season. Had our defense held like it did in the first half, we could have come away with this win. ... But, our defense did not hold."
Coming into the matchup, Michigan State averaged 91.4 points and shot 49.1% from the field this season.
Stuelke bounces back
After being limited to just eight points and 10 rebounds in Iowa's 78-68 loss to Tennessee, Stuelke returned to her normally productive self with 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals in the Hawkeyes' win over the Cyclones on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Stuelke demonstrated a full return to her dominant, productive self against the Spartans.
In the first half, Stuelke led all players with 12 points and five rebounds while drawing five fouls.
In total, Stuelke drew 12 fouls (going 10-of-14 on free throws) and dished two assists in addition to scoring a season-high in points.
Stuelke told the Hawkeye Radio Network during a postgame interview that she's faced unforeseen challenges in stepping into a leadership role on the team.
"It is a little bit harder than I anticipated," Stuelke said. "But, Sydney (Affolter) and I have been here before. Lucy (Olsen) has been here before, just not with us, so I think we need to figure out a little bit more how to mesh together. Once we get there, we will be fantastic."
Three-point shooting comes up short
Following Feuerbach's two threes in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes missed their final five three-point attempts and finished 9-of-25 (36.0%) from the perimeter.
Though it marked the third-best shooting performance this season for Iowa, it remained 1.6% less than the season average of 37.6% in 2023-24.
Through 11 games, the Hawkeyes have shot just 71-of-223 (31.8%) from the perimeter.
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