It's Iowa's turn to rule at home

IOWA CITY — Peel away the strategy, the scouting reports and all the outside noise, and basketball can be a simple game.

'Eerily simple,' Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said. 'One team made a lot of shots, and the other team couldn't make anything.'

Here's something else that was simple, in the words of Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder:

'We were just the better team.'

Tania Davis and Kathleen Doyle notched career-highs, and Iowa rode an 8-for-8 shooting display in the third quarter on its way to an 88-76 women's basketball win over Iowa State in front of 4,579 Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Davis tallied 23 points, Doyle added 17, and the Hawkeyes (7-3) made it 10 straight wins for the home team in this series, and 15 of the last 16.

'It's just awesome to go out with a win,' said Iowa's Ally Disterhoft, playing in the Cy-Hawk game for the final time. 'People talk about whether it's a Hawkeye state or a Cyclone state ... to say it's a Hawkeye state, it's just awesome.'

Iowa can clinch an outright mythical state championship if it beats Drake on Dec. 18 in Des Moines.

The game was won — or lost, depending on your rooting interest — from behind the 3-point arc. The Hawkeyes canned 13 of 21 long shots; Iowa State (6-2) was 6 of 28.

Yeah, it can be a simple game.

Davis missed half of the summer after undergoing shoulder surgery, so she didn't take as many shots as most of her teammates, and a lot of her shots were of the one-handed variety.

But she was 5-of-6 from distance Wednesday, leading the long-range assault.

'Ally told me if they weren't playing me, to go off for 30,' Davis said. 'I took that to heart.'

'(Davis) is a great player,' ISU's Jadda Buckley said. 'She has a lot of speed. She can dish it off, she can take it to the hoop, she can hit the three.'

Doyle, a freshman, also posted five assists and three steals to go with her career scoring effort.

'I wanted to bring energy to the defensive end,' she said. 'In the middle of the game, I was thinking, this is really fun.'

The first 12 minutes were a back-and-forth dual, with seven lead changes. Seanna Johnson hit a 3-pointer to give the Cyclones a 17-15 lead.

But Doyle answered for Iowa on the next possession, and that triggered a 28-11 run in the final 7:10 of the half as the Hawkeyes built a 43-28 halftime lead.

They did it with modest offensive production from their top two scorers; Disterhoft and Megan Gustafson combined for a mere 10 points. Instead, it was Davis, Doyle and Christina Buttenham engineering the train.

'(Disterhoft and Gustafson) were the first two names on the scouting report,' Fennelly said. 'But that's the nature of this series — it's always someone you don't expect.'

Iowa made all eight of its shots from the floor (including 4-of-4 from 3-point range) in the third quarter to maintain a comfortable cushion, and it grew to 76-54 with 6 minutes left in the game.

The Cyclones got within 77-67 on Bridget Carleton's three-point play with 2:45 left before the Hawkeyes closed it out.

Disterhoft added 14 points, Gustafson and Buttenham 10 apiece. Gustafson snagged 13 rebounds.

The reigning Big 12 player of the week, Buckley led the Cyclones with 21 points. Carleton and Johnson scored 18 apiece.

Iowa hosts Robert Morris on Friday. Iowa State hosts Northern Illinois on Sunday.

IOWA 88, IOWA STATE 76

At Iowa City

IOWA STATE (76): Meredith Burkhall 1-4 3-3 5, Jadda Buckley 9-19 0-0 21, Seanna Johnson 7-17 2-3 18, Bridget Carleton 4-9 10-10 18, TeeTee Starks 2-7 0-0 4, Emily Durr 2-10 2-3 7, Heather Bowe 0-1 1-2 1, Nia Washington 0-0 0-0 0, Adriana Camber 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-68 18-21 76.

IOWA (88): Megan Gustafson 4-6 2-4 10, Ally Disterhoft 4-9 3-4 14, Tania Davis 7-11 4-4 23, Kathleen Doyle 6-11 3-4 17, Bre Cera 1-2 0-0 2, Alexa Kastanek 1-2 0-0 2, Makenzie Meyer 2-4 0-0 6, Chase Coley 0-2 0-0 0, Hannah Stewart 1-1 2-2 4, Christina Buttenham 3-3 3-4 10, Amanda Ollinger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-51 17-22 88.

Halftime: Iowa 43, ISU 28. 3-point goals: ISU 6-28 (Buckley 3-7, Johnson 2-9, Carleton 0-4, Starks 0-1, Durr 1-6, Bowe 0-1), Iowa 13-21 (Disterhoft 3-5, Davis 5-6, Doyle 2-5, Cera 0-1, Kastanek 0-1, Meyer 2-2, Buttenham 1-1). Team fouls: ISU 22, Iowa 20. Fouled out: Carleton. Rebounds: ISU 37 (Burkhall, Johnson, Carleton 6), Iowa 31 (Gustafson 13). Assists: ISU 7 (Johnson 3), Iowa 18 (Doyle 5). Steals: ISU 6 (Burkhall, Carleton 2), Iows 6 (Doyle 3). Turnovers: ISU 9, Iowa 14.

Attendance: 4,579.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com