IOWA CITY (KWWL) -
Driven by a group of four scoring in double figures, the University of Iowa women's basketball team upset No. 24 Ohio State, 77-71, in overtime in their Big Ten opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawks outlasted the predominantly one-Buckeye show of Tayler Hill, who scored 34 points.
Theairra Taylor scored the first six points in overtime for the Hawkeyes and put an exclamation point on the outcome with a steal with four seconds remaining. She finished with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, followed by Samantha Logic (17 points), Morgan Johnson (16) and Jaime Printy (14).
Iowa has knocked off four ranked teams in its first 15 games, the most for the program since the 1995-96 season when it had victories against seven top 25 opponents.
"I don't think we played our best game of the year, but we played well enough to beat another top 25 team," Bluder said. "We had a little adversity out there: we were up big (55-42 with 9:55 to play), let them come back, but then Morgan hits two big free throws and we get a big defensive stop to put it into overtime. In overtime we were not going to be denied."
The 13-point lead became a two-point advantage for the Buckeyes (63-61) with 23 seconds left in regulation. Johnson sank two free throws to tie the game for a seventh time, and then Iowa played stingy defense for the final 20 seconds to force overtime. The Hawkeyes never trailed during the extra five-minute period.
Iowa's depth showed in areas other than scoring. Johnson led the team with 12 rebounds (her fourth double-double of the season), Logic had eight assists, Doolittle blocked six shots, and Johnson, Logic, and Doolittle had three steals apiece.
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, Jan. 6, against Michigan (12-2, 1-0), also winners of seven straight games.
