Iowa women ousted in overtime

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - As Samantha Logic goes, so do the Iowa women.

Logic fouled out in the closing seconds of regulation and was not on the floor during overtime as third-seed Ohio State rallied past second-seed Iowa, 91-85 in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday night at Sears Centre Arena before 5,642 fans.

'The worst thing we could have happened was to get into overtime without Sam Logic,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

It also did not help that Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell made two 3-pointers in the extra session to ensure that the Buckeyes will meet top-seed Maryland in Sunday night's championship.

'Tonight was something,” said Mitchell, who led all scorers with 29 points. 'One of the best days of my life as far as like learning, especially being a freshman. And those two 3-pointers was just part of the game.”

The game went back and forth, but Iowa (24-7) appeared to gain control when it forged a 72-65 lead with 6:57 left. However, the Buckeyes (23-9) feasted on Iowa miscues and managed to regain a one-point lead.

'We just got in too much of a hurry,” Bluder said. 'We didn't really run our offense and we forced up some quick shots. We let the pace of the game overtake us at that point.”

Ohio State held an 80-79 lead when the Buckeyes' Alexa Hart missed a pair of free throws. Iowa's Ally Disterhoft was fouled driving to the basket with 19.4 seconds left, but Disterhoft missed both free throws, Hart grabbed the rebound, which prompted Logic to commit her fifth foul.

Hart split a pair of free throws to give the Buckeyes an 81-79 lead.

Whitney Jennings found Bethany Doolittle cutting to the basket on an inbounds play, and Doolittle's layup sent the game in overtime.

'We got the two from Bethany to put us in overtime,” Bluder said, 'but realistically, without our floor general, most experienced player and All-American, we really needed probably needed to get a 3-pointer to win it instead of pushing it into overtime.”

Logic said that the Hawkeyes simply didn't make enough plays.

'There were some breakdowns and some fouls called on us, which were tough, but you have to play through it,” Logic said. 'You can't blame it on that, but it is tough to overcome that sometimes. I thought we battled - we battled so hard. We have to be in better position defensively so that we don't get those calls against us.”

Ohio State took the lead for good on the first possession of overtime when Alexa scored on an offensive rebound. The Buckeyes had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half. Iowa was out-rebounded 47-41 and committed 19 turnovers.

'It was uncharacteristic of us,” Bluder said. 'We could have had a lead if we took care of the ball. It hurts you in these types of games. You look at turnovers and rebounding numbers. We couldn't keep Hart off the boards. Those are high percentage shots. The turnovers the first half and the offensive rebounds we gave up in the second half was really the story of our demise.”

Melissa Dixon, who grew up in nearby Johnsburg, Ill., led the Hawkeyes with 22 points as she made six 3-pointers. Doolittle added 21 while Logic and Kali Peschel each scored 12.

The Hawkeyes now turn their attention to the NCAA tournament; the field will be announced at 6 p.m. March 16.

Iowa has a good chance of hosting the first two rounds at Carver-Hawkeye Arena where the Hawkeyes went 16-0 this season.

'We wanted to win a Big Ten championship. It is what my seniors set out to do and it is disappointing,” Bluder said. 'The NCAA tournament is the next step. I think we're going to be a great seed and I am confident we are going to have home court advantage. We're undefeated in Carver Hawkeye Arena and there is no reason why we should not have a good run in the NCAA tournament.”