EVANSTON, Ill. — The Iowa women’s basketball team won its fourth game in a row, and 20th game of the season, topping Northwestern, 70-61, on Sunday inside Beardsley Gymnasium.
Iowa (20-6, 8-5 Big Ten) jumped out to a 21-13 lead after one quarter, and led 37-23 by half.
“We got off to a great first quarter, and that’s four games in a row,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder told hawkeyesports.com. “We came out aggressively to start the game.”
The Hawkeyes hurt themselves with 20 turnovers, but shot 57.1 percent from the field (28 of 49).
The 49 field-goal attempts is tied for the fewest all season (Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 9).
Megan Gustafson recorded her 24th double-double of the season with 25 points and 16 rebounds. She moved past Toni Foster to No. 8 on the all-time career scoring list and past Morgan Johnson and Foster to No. 4 on the all-time career rebounding list. Gustafson has 1,626 career points and 901 career rebounds.
Kathleen Doyle played all 40 minutes and had 15 points and six assists. Makenzie Meyer added 12 points.
“I like her game,” Bluder said of Doyle. “Her defensive effort was outstanding, especially guarding Lindsey Pulliam, who has been very, very good.”
Pulliam had 11 points, four below her team-leading average.
Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah led Northwestern (9-17, 2-10) with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals.
The Hawkeyes are back in action Sunday, Feb. 18, hosting Wisconsin (9-17, 2-11).
Three regular-season games remain, including two in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“This week we need to rest, heal, and get everything ready to go into next week.” Bluder said.