Addison O’Grady keeps it rolling (27 points, 10 rebounds); Iowa tops Drake, 86-73

DES MOINES — Drake women’s basketball coach Allison Pohlman has seen more of Iowa’s recent superstar posts that she’d prefer.

She got an eyeful of Megan Gustafson, then Monika Czinano.

Now, along comes Addison O’Grady.

“Her teammates are able to get her the ball,” Pohlman said. “She has a phenomenal supporting cast.”

Pause, for a moment. Who would have thought that phrase would become a thing?

Addison O’Grady’s supporting cast.

Anyway, back to Pohlman:

“We had to keep wraps on kids like Kylie Feuerbach and Sydney Affolter, so there were going to be some one-on-ones, and (O’Grady) had a great day.”

A career day.

O’Grady tallied a career-high 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and led Iowa to an 86-73 victory over the Bulldogs before a sellout crowd of 6,424 Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center.

It was the Hawkeyes’ most comfortable win here since 2012. O’Grady continued a surprising hot start to her senior season.

“Coach (Jan Jensen) always tells us to do our work early,” O’Grady said. “Do the work before you get the ball.”

O’Grady was 7-of-7 in the first quarter to help Iowa combat an early Drake 3-point barrage, led by Katie Dinnebier.

Iowa (4-0) trailed 25-21 at the end of the first quarter, but closed the first half with an 18-3 run, took a 45-35 lead into intermission, and never led by less than four points again.

Teagan Mallegni hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the half, and Iowa won for the 21st time in the last 22 games in this series.

“We were grittier in that stretch,” Mallegni said. “The team really stepped it up.”

O’Grady entered her senior season with a 3.4-point career scoring average. She’s at 16.8 points per game this season (behind only Lucy Olsen’s 17.8) and is converting at a 73.2-percent clip.

“Now, I’m starting to have Gustafson-and-Czinano expectations of her,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said. “It’s because she can do it.”

  Buy Photo

Sunday marked an emotional weekend for Jensen, in her first year as Iowa’s head coach. She spent Saturday night at a banquet celebrating 50 years of Drake women’s basketball; Jensen played from 1987 through 1991 and has her No. 13 jersey hanging in the rafters here.

“I feel so overwhelmed,” Jensen said, and the waver in her voice was proof of that. “I love this place. This was such a weird one to play.”

Dinnebier struck for 40 points for the Bulldogs (2-2), hitting 8 of 17 shots from the field, 7 of 15 from long range and 17 of 20 from the free-throw line.

“I didn’t think about the points,” Dinnebier said. “I just let it fly.”

Pohlman said, “We all knew this was coming. It you can watch this young lady each and every day in practice ... I didn’t think she could become more competitive, but she sure has.”

Dinnebier was the lone Drake player in double figures. The rest of the Bulldogs were 10 of 46 from the floor.

Iowa had four double-digit scorers: O’Grady (27), Olsen (18), Hannah Stuelke (16) and Mallegni (13). Taylor McCabe was 3-for-3, all from long range, and scored nine.

The Hawkeyes won their seventh consecutive game against its three in-state Division-I rivals. They’ll face Kansas on Wednesday at Sioux Falls, S.D.

Drake is off until next Sunday, when it plays at No. 8 Iowa State.

Iowa 86, Drake 73

At Des Moines

IOWA (86): Hannah Stuelke 5-9 6-9 16, Addison O’Grady 13-21 1-1 27, Sydney Affolter 0-3 1-2 1, Kylie Feuerbach 1-4 0-0 2, Lucy Olsen 7-15 3-4 18, Taylor McCabe 3-3 0-0 9, Teagan Mallegni 5-10 0-1 13, Taylor Stremlow 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Gyamfi 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Heiden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-65 11-17 86.

DRAKE (73): Anna Miller 1-17 4-4 6, Courtney Becker 3-7 1-4 7, Grace Knutson 2-7 0-0 6, Katie Dinnenbier 8-17 17-20 40, Ava Hawthorne 1-4 0-2 3, Abby Aalsma 2-5 0-0 6, Shannon Fornshell 1-1 0-0 2, Maggie Taylor 0-2 2-2 2, Taedyn Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Brooklin Dailey 0-3 0-0 0, Peyton McCabe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-63 24-32 73.

Iowa 21 24 26 15 — 86

Drake 25 10 25 13 — 73

3-point goals: Iowa 7-20 (Stuelke 0-1, Affolter 0-2, Feuerbach 0-2, Olsen 1-5, McCabe 3-3, Mallegni 3-7), Drake 13-40 (Miller 0-5, Becker 0-2, Knutson 2-6, Dinnebier 7-15, Hawthorne 1-2, Aalsma 2-4, Fornshell 1-1, Taylor 0-2, Dailey 0-3). Team fouls: Iowa 23, Drake 19. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Iowa 41 (O’Grady 10), Drake 39 (Miller 10). Assists: Iowa 19 (Affolter, Olsen 6), Drake 11 (Dinnebier 5). Steals: Iowa 8 (Feuerbach 3), Drake 9 (Dinnebier 3). Turnovers: Iowa 17, Drake 18.

Attendance: 6,424.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com