Late run sends No. 22 Ohio State past Iowa, 88-81

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Iowa women's basketball team gave itself a chance, but No. 22 Ohio State snatched it away, 88-81, Sunday at Value City Arena.

Iowa (15-10, 6-6 Big Ten) tied the game at 72-72 with 3:56 to play on a pair of free throws by Kathleen Doyle.

But Ohio State (22-5, 12-1) responded with a 12-2 run. During the first part of the run, the Hawkeyes were hurt by a pair of missed shots and three turnovers.

'We had that little spurt around the 3-minute mark,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'We had back-to-back turnovers and they just took advantage of it. And that was kind of the big turning point. They took advantage and got the momentum back.”

It was the second game for Iowa without sophomore point guard Tania Davis, who tore her ACL and is out for the seaso, and first on the road.

'We came in here and fought,” Bluder said. 'I thought we came in here fully confident. If the freshmen knew what they were up against, I doubt they'd come out as confident.

'They are freshmen. They don't know what they are up against. They are just growing ever day and getting better.”

Doyle, a freshman guard, made her second start at point guard and finished with 11 points and six assists. Freshman guard Bre Cera made her second Big Ten start and had five rebounds and three assists.

Ally Disterhoft led Iowa with 22 points. Megan Gustafson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and was one of four Hawkeyes that finished the game with four fouls. Makenzie Meyer had 16 points.

'We came in here and fought,” Bluder said. 'Only our second game playing without our point guard. They are not going to give up; they are not going to do that.”

Shayla Cooper and Kelsey Mitchell each scored 20 points for the Buckeyes, and Sierra Calhoun added 19 points. Mitchell had 16 of her 20 points in the second half.

'That's been happening to us a lot lately,” Bluder said. 'We've been going up against some of the best scorers in the conference. They just keep going, they keep believing. You can't give an inch.”

Iowa has four regular-season games left. Next up is Northwestern (17-7, 6-5) on Thursday in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.