Hawkeyes firing on all cylinders

IOWA CITY - The Iowa women's basketball team played arguably its most complete game in front of the largest home crowd of the season.

The 13th-ranked Hawkeyes are clicking during a three-games-in-six-days stretch in the final month of the regular season.

Melissa Dixon scored 15 points and three other Hawkeyes scored in double figures in an, 81-64, win over Indiana on Sunday night in front of a season-best 8,748 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'I felt like we really had this in control the whole game,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'It was just a really nice, well played game for us. Nothing flashy, it was just a good old-fashioned win.”

Ally Disterhoft scored 13 points, Bethany Doolittle chipped in 12 points and Samantha Logic added 11 points, 11 assists and six rebounds as Iowa (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) maintained its two-game cushion over Rutgers for second place in the conference.

The Hawkeyes, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, are off to their best start since the 1995-96 season.

Iowa played a balanced game, winning nearly every key indicator for its second-largest conference win this season.

The Hawkeyes forced 16 turnovers, converting them into 21 points, and allowed only two fast-break points.

Iowa had 20 more field goal attempts than Indiana.

The Hawkeyes dominated the inside, doubling up Indiana's points in the paint (32 to 16) and racking up 13 offensive rebounds. Iowa only gave up two second-chance points.

'We've just been playing as a team,” Disterhoft said. 'On any given night, anyone can score. We're driving and we're hitting people for the open shots. We really just executed on all cylinders.”

Bluder's only nitpick was that her team got a little '3 happy” in the first half. Iowa fired up an unbelievable 21 3-point tries in the opening half - only seven short of its season-high for a game.

The Hawkeyes finished 10 of 28 from 3-point range. Dixon was 4 of 11.

Iowa used a 16-2 run late in the first half to pull away from Indiana.

The Hawkeyes turned an 18-17 deficit into a 13-point lead with a stifling 2-3 zone defense that held the Hoosiers to one field goal and seven turnovers over the 8 1/2-minute stretch.

Indiana cut Iowa's lead to 37-30 early in the second half, but a Disterhoft jumper and Dixon 3 put the Hawkeyes up double digits. The Hoosiers never got any closer.

Jess Walter scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half to lead Indiana (14-11, 4-10). Alexis Gassion added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hawkeyes have a quick turnaround with a trip to Minnesota on Tuesday. Bluder said picking up a third win in the last six days - two of them on the road - would be a great accomplishment.

'We're going to keep the focus,” Bluder said.