No. 8 Iowa needs a bounceback, a big one, Sunday at UCLA

You really didn’t expect them to win them all, did you?

Maybe the Iowa Hawkeyes simply were due for a clunker after an eight-game win streak.

That’s exactly what Thursday’s performance was. USC led the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes from start to finish, putting together runs of 13-0 and 21-3 in an 81-69 ambush.

“They hit us at a really good time,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said afterward on the Iowa Radio Network.

“We got back on our heels in the first quarter. When you let a team get rolling, it’s hard-sledding on the road.”

Sledding won’t be easy Sunday, either. The Hawkeyes (18-3, 9-1) tackle No. 2 UCLA (20-1, 10-0) in a Big Ten women’s basketball encounter.

Tipoff is 3 p.m. (CT) at Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles (Fox).

If Connecticut was the Hawkeyes’ biggest challenge of the season, this is a close second.

UCLA has won 14 consecutive games after a neutral-site loss to Texas, and has won its 10 league contests by an average of 26.3 points per game.

Iowa was playing its full game without Taylor McCabe (ACL) on Thursday.

“There wasn’t a lot of time to get used to life without Taylor,” Jensen said. “Taylor is a really good defender, a sound player that is able to calm the waters.”

When the waters turned turbulent Thursday, the Hawkeyes’ ship took in water.

“I just thought we were the most quiet to start a game,” Jensen said. “Our communication was really, really nil. Our transition defense was especially poor.”

Now, it’s onto the next.

UCLA was a Final Four team last season and has an All-American post in 6-foot-7 post Lauren Betts and an elite guard in Kiki Rice.

If the Hawkeyes play like they did Thursday, it could get ugly. But if they resemble their version of last Sunday, when they whipped Ohio State, they’re capable of hanging around.

Journey Houston was a bright spot at USC, coming off the bench to score 16 points.

“She has a tenacity about her,” Jensen said.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com