Baylor ends Iowa’s run, 81-66

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Iowa Hawkeyes' deepest NCAA tournament run in nearly two decades ended Friday night. It ended with a broken nose and a broken pattern.

Nina Davis was anything but a one-woman show as sixth-rated Baylor sidelined No. 15 Iowa, 81-66, in an NCAA women's basketball tournament regional semifinal Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Sune Agbuke led the Lady Bears with a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Bears (33-3) advanced within a game of the Final Four.

'They were really crowding down on Nina,” Agbuke said. 'I think that was their game plan to keep her from getting the ball, and I was wide open.”

Baylor will face No. 2 Notre Dame (34-2) in a regional final at 7:30 Sunday night, with the winner moving on to Tampa, Fla.

Iowa retired at 26-8. The Hawkeyes were making their first Sweet 16 trip since 1996. But Baylor exhibited a balanced attack which had eluded them through much of the season.

The Lady Bears entered the game with only one player - Davis, the Big 12 player of the year - averaging in double figures this season. But she got plenty of assistance Friday.

Davis added 20 points, and Kristy Wallace came off the bench to hit 7 of 8 shots in a 17-point performance.

Agbuke hurt the Hawkeyes in other ways. She clocked Iowa center Bethany Doolittle with an errant elbow late in the game. Doolittle suffered a broken nose and a black eye.

The play was ruled a Flagrant-1.

'It was such an accident,” Agbuke said. 'My teammates kind of had to calm me down because I did feel bad. It was completely unintentional.”

Doolittle was in the training room after the game and unavailable to the media.

The incident had no bearing on the outcome. Baylor led from start to finish, with the margin as large as 21 points. It was 72-54 when Doolittle was injured.

The key juncture came late in the first half, after Iowa made its only run of the night.

Doolittle connected on three baskets in an 11-0 surge to bring Iowa within 36-34 with a minute left in the half.

But Wallace hit a 3-pointer, then Alexis Prince drained another at the buzzer to put Baylor in front, 42-34, at intermission.

'That was big, going from a one-possession game to a three-possession game,” said Iowa's Samantha Logic. It was big-time shots by them. We lost - one of them we just lost in our zone. And then the other one was just at the buzzer, just kind of crazy defense, was just trying to get a steal and they found (Prince) at the right time.

'We would have had momentum going into the half, and we've got to learn to get stops there.”

Both point guards dazzled, combining for 30 assists and one turnover.

Baylor's Niya Johnson tallied 10 points with 16 assists (and no turnovers). Logic's finale was a triple-double (13 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists), the sixth of her career.

Doolittle led the Hawkeyes with 16 points. Kali Peschel came off the bench to score 12 points, Melissa Dixon 10.

Baylor raced to an 8-0 lead before Whitney Jennings' 3-pointer got the Hawkeyes on the board at the 17:04 mark of the first half. An 11-2 run by Baylor staked the Lady Bears to their largest lead of the half at 36-23.

BAYLOR 81, IOWA 66

At Oklahoma City

IOWA (66): Bethany Doolittle 8-14 0-0 16, Ally Disterhoft 1-8 0-0 3, Whitney Jennings 3-8 0-0 8, Melissa Dixon 4-14 0-0 10, Samantha Logic 6-15 1-2 13, Alexa Kastanek 0-0 0-2 0, Claire Till 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Coley 2-3 0-0 4, Kali Peschel 4-6 2-3 12, Kathryn Reynolds 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 3-7 66.

BAYLOR (81): Nina Davis 7-13 6-6 20, Sune Agbuke 9-17 5-5 23, Niya Johnson 3-9 4-4 10, Alexis Prince 2-6 0-0 5, Imani Wright 3-11 0-1 6, Dekeiya Cohen 0-0 0-0 0, Kristy Wallace 7-8 1-2 17, Khadijiah Cave 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 16-18 81.

Halftime: Baylor 42, Iowa 34. 3-point goals: Iowa 7-23 (Disterhoft 1-2, Jennings 2-5, Dixon 2-10, Logic 0-3, Peschel 2-2, Reynolds 0-1), Baylor 3-10 (Johnson 0-1, Prince 1-4, Wright 0-3, Wallace 2-2). Team fouls: Iowa 17, Baylor 9. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Iowa 35 (Logic 10), Baylor 45 (Agbuke 12). Assists: Iowa 15 (Logic 14), Baylor 22 (Johnson 16). Steals: Iowa 4 (Logic 2), Baylor 3 (three with 1). Turnovers: Iowa 9, Baylor 8.

Attendance: NA.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com