Dear Old Gold
Fansided

Iowa Basketball: Women Close Out Regular Season With Win

By Derek Helling

Feb 15, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Kali Peschel (25) celebrates her basket in the third quarter against the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Kali Peschel (25) celebrates her basket in the third quarter against the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Big 10 tournament is looming for the women of Iowa basketball, but tonight was for Claire Till, Kali Peschel and Nicole Smith.

Those were the three Hawkeye seniors who stepped onto Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the final time on Saturday night, and the team paid them a fitting tribute. Iowa (18-12 overall, 8-10 Big 10) took control of its game against Illinois (9-20, 2-16) early and held on to claim a 61-56 win.

The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Fighting Illini 44-31, held Illinois to under 37 percent while shooting over 42 percent from the field and trailed for only 15 seconds in what was one of Iowa’s most complete wins of the season.

Separate from being Senior Night, this performance couldn’t have come at a better time for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa will enter the Big 10 tournament as either the eighth or ninth seed (depending on the results of Sunday’s Northwestern at Nebraska game). That’s academic, however. The eighth and ninth seeds play each other in the first game on Thursday, March 3.

The winner advances to play the Big 10 regular season champion Maryland Terrapins in the first game of the quarterfinal round on Friday, March 4.

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Given Iowa’s up and down regular season and sub-.500 conference mark, even a program that has qualified for the NCAA tournament eight years in a row like the Hawkeyes will need a strong conference tournament run in order to be considered for an at-large bid. By strong, I mean Iowa needs to get to the championship game.

This win against the Fighting Illini should give the Hawkeyes a confidence boost. Freshman Megan Gustafson was again a dominant force, recording another double-double with team highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds. The offense was versatile as junior Whitney Jennings added 14 points, junior Ally Disterhoft contributed 13 and sophomore Chase Coley had 10 points in the game.

The element of the game that Iowa most needs to address before Thursday was evident tonight, and it allowed Illinois to mount a comeback attempt late in the game. The Fighting Illini held a 24-6 edge in points off turnovers, as the Hawkeyes committed 15 turnovers. It’s something that has plagued Iowa all season, and if the Hawkeyes are to advance past Nebraska, Maryland and a potential semifinals opponent, will have to drastically improve.

All the concerns and game-planning can wait until tomorrow, though. Tonight is about closing the chapter on another regular season and thanking the trio of seniors who have given all they have to Iowa basketball for the past four years. On behalf of Dear Old Gold, we thank Claire Till, Kali Peschel and Nicole Smith for their efforts to make Iowa basketball better.

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