Hawkeyes drop Kansas, improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2017-18

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Iowa women’s basketball staff doesn’t have a rewards system in place for drawn charges.

Not yet.

“We’re going to,” Coach Jan Jensen said. “We’re working on a scheme here. It’s not quite ready.”

The Hawkeyes highlighted another stout defensive effort with numerous charges drawn (five or six, perhaps), and hounded Kansas, 71-58, in a non-conference contest before an overflow crowd of 3,347 Wednesday night at the Sanford Pentagon.

Lucy Olsen and Hannah Stuelke scored 16 points apiece for the Hawkeyes, whose 5-0 start is their first since 2017-18.

That’s right. For as much as the Hawkeyes accomplished in the last two seasons, they didn’t begin either of them with five consecutive wins.

All five of them (two against Power Five teams) have been by double digits. The Hawkeyes are allowing 62.6 points per game, which is downright suffocating by recent Iowa standards.

“We try to put a lot of emphasis on our defense,” Jensen said. “(Kansas) is one of the more athletic teams we’ve played so far, and we made it hard for them to do what they wanted to do.”

Especially early.

Kansas (4-1) went scoreless for the final 6:20 of the first quarter, and the Hawkeyes tallied the final 11 points of the period for an 18-4 lead.

The Jayhawks were 1 of 11 from the floor in the opening period, and turned it over five times.

“We played on our heels in the first quarter,” Kansas Coach Brandon Schneider said. “They did a better job protecting the paint than we did. They played team defense more consistently than we did.

“And let’s be honest, this was a road game for us.”

Despite the fact that the two campuses are virtually equidistant from Sioux Falls (about 380 miles away, apiece), Wednesday’s crowd was at least 80-percent pro-Iowa.

“This was a really good environment,” Stuelke said. “We had a lot of fans here. They never disappoint.”

The game was somewhat choppy offensively for the Hawkeyes. But the outside shooting showed some progress.

Olsen, the transfer from Villanova, entered the game at 20 percent (3 of 15) from 3-point range. She was 3-for-5 Wednesday.

“It felt nice to see the ball go in the basket from 3,” she said.

In all, the Hawkeyes were 8 of 21 from deep.

Iowa led by as many as 15 points in the first half and owned a 38-27 halftime advantage.

A memorable play came in the second quarter. Kansas’ Laia Conesa stole the ball from Olsen and took off the other direction, with Olsen and Kylie Feuerbach in hot pursuit.

As Conesa went up for a layup, both Olsen and Feuerbach got a hand on the ball, and it went out of bounds off Conesa’s knee.

The margin never back into single digits in the second half. Taylor Stremlow’s putback at the 2:32 mark of the third quarter pushed the margin to its largest of the game, 56-39.

Stuelke grabbed 10 rebounds; Olsen dished out six assists.

S’Mya Nichols led Kansas with 26 points, Elle Evans added 22. The rest of the Jayhawks scored only 10.

The Hawkeyes return home for a Sunday encounter with Washington State. Tipoff is 3 p.m.

Iowa 71, Kansas 58

At Sioux Falls, S.D.

KANSAS (58): Regan Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Laia Conesa 0-0 0-0 0, S’Mya Nichols 6-18 12-14 26, Elle Evans 9-18 0-0 22, Sania Copeland 1-3 1-2 3, Wyvette Mayberry 1-6 0-0 3, Nadira Eltayeb 0-2 0-0 0, Carla Osma 0-2 0-0 0, Danai Papadopoulou 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 13-16 58.

IOWA (71): Hannah Stuelke 6-12 4-5 16, Addison O’Grady 3-6 3-4 9, Sydney Affolter 1-2 0-0 2, Kylie Feuerbach 2-7 1-3 5, Lucy Olsen 5-11 3-4 16, Taylor Stremlow 2-3 2-2 7, Taylor McCabe 2-4 0-0 6, Ava Heiden 2-5 0-0 4, Teagan Mallegni 2-5 0-0 6. Totals 25-55 13-18 71.

Kansas 4 23 19 12 — 58

Iowa 18 20 20 13 — 71

3-point goals: Kansas 7-21 (Nichols 2-6, Evans 4-9, Copeland 0-1, Mayberry 1-4, Osma 0-1), Iowa 8-21 (Stuelke 0-1, Feuerbach 0-4, Olsen 3-5, Stremlow 1-2, McCabe 2-4, Mallegni 2-5). Team fouls: Kansas 19, Iowa 17. Fouled out: Williams, O’Grady, Affolter. Rebounds: Kansas 26 (Nichols 5), Iowa 33 (Stuelke 10). Assists: Kansas 8 (Nichols 4), Iowa 15 (Olsen 6). Steals: Kansas 7 (Nichols 2), Iowa 6 (Feuerbach 3). Turnovers: Kansas 16, Iowa 14.

Attendance: 3,250.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com