CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Though it was a four-point game at halftime, Virginia Tech fell to Iowa 71-52 in Sunday’s Ally Tipoff in the Spectrum Center.
“Didn’t put 40 minutes together,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought we had some great moments. That first and third quarter defensively really hurt us, giving up 26 points and then 22 points is really not what we’re looking to do. I thought a little bit of foul trouble hurt us a bit, I thought we were tentative at times and then there were some great moments.”
The Hokies (1-1) got down early but worked their way back in the game. After trailing 26-16 at the end of the first quarter, they buckled down defensively and held the Hawkeyes (2-0) to just 4-of-15 (27%) in the second period. At the break, it was 34-30.
However, Iowa was difficult to slow down in the second half. Despite Tech forcing five turnovers in the third quarter and getting the margin down to two points, the Hawkeyes were an impressive 9-of-13 (69%) from the field and pulled away again. After making it 38-36 with 6:53 remaining, Iowa outscored Tech 33-16.
The Hokies didn’t quit, ripping off a 7-0 stretch of their own in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 13, but they didn’t have it offensively. They were 21-of-59 (36%) for the game, never eclipsing 39% in a period. While there were bright spots, they were inefficient overall.
“I think we’re looking to get downhill and looking to touch paint and it was a little hard with their length,” Tech point guard Carleigh Wenzel said of Iowa’s defense. “Just when you’re getting downhill to see those athletes and also read what you have. I think they did a good job packing the paint.”
Wenzel and forward Rose Micheaux led the team in scoring with 14 and 12, respectively. They each grabbed seven rebounds, too — a career-high for Wenzel, who provided a spark multiple times. Micheaux only played 20 minutes due to foul trouble but was an effective 6-of-10. She might’ve changed the complexion of the game if she could’ve stayed on the floor, but her situation forced Tech — who has limited frontcourt depth to begin with — to play turn to its youth in freshman forward Kayl Petersen.
“We’ve got to keep her on the floor, but I thought in her minutes, she was extremely efficient,” Duffy said of Micheaux. “She looked confident. She’s getting to different parts of her game now. I thought she rebounded the ball well. … I just think being able to be smart and figure it out and tweak some things while you’re on the floor if you have a foul or two.”
Carys Baker, Samyha Suffren, Mackenzie Nelson and Petersen each chipped some big buckets, but the Hokies lacked punch. The offense stalled a number of times and turned it over on 18 occasions, and it struggled to get Matilda Ekh going — its leading scorer in the opener vs. UNC Wilmington.
The Swede had an extremely quiet night, making just one of her six field goal attempts for two points. Iowa and Kylie Feuerbach did a great job of taking her out of the game, which was its biggest focal point coming in.
“I just knew we couldn’t let Ekh get on a roll,” Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen said. “… They did a great job of limiting Ekh and I thought we did a great job with their transition. … We wanted to limit threes, slow their transition and really make sure Ekh didn’t go crazy, so I think they really understood the assignment.”
Indeed. Though she only had one turnover, Ekh was invisible for the majority of the contest. Her lone bucket was an awkward runner in the lane with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
Tech’s 3-pointers didn’t fall either. It was 5-of-24 from behind the arc, including just 1-of-10 in the second half, which came from Petersen, who nailed her lone attempt. Baker was 2-of-8 while Wenzel was 1-of-5 and Nelson was 1-of-3.
“Being able to hit some of those threes better, 5-for-24, I think we’re better than that,” Duffy said. “I think that could’ve been a little bit of a difference.”
The positive: Tech’s defense kept the team in the game. After allowing Iowa to start the game 10-of-21, it turned things around in the second quarter, especially inside. Micheaux was in foul trouble, but Baker, Petersen and others turned the Hawkeyes over five times and limited them to 27 percent shooting (4-of-15) — what Duffy described as “scrappy.”
The Hokies did a solid job against Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke, who started 4-of-6 but was 2-of-11 the rest of the way — which included a 1-of-6 second quarter. They did fronted her well while rolling in backside help, causing some confusion and trapping her in the post.
“I think the tough part was we were doing it [but] we weren’t getting the ball back,” Duffy said. “It kept going out of bounds, it didn’t lead to anything out in transition or execution in the halfcourt. … When you’re having that energy, you’re making some positive plays, you’ve got to capitalize on it on the other end and that’s what we couldn’t do today.”
That could’ve been the difference. Instead, the Hokies were in a four-point hole at intermission, and the break gave the Hawkeyes an opportunity to settle down and refocus. And they did just that, recalibrating, adjusting and putting the game out of reach while Tech had its worst shooting stretch of the game in the third (31%).
Specifically, they were dominated inside by Addison O’Grady, who was 7-of-7 in the paint in the second half and finished with a career-high 18 points. She and Stuelke were two of Iowa’s double-figure scorers, with 18 and 16 points, respectively, along with Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen’s 20 points. It seemed like any time the Hawkeyes needed a basket, one of those three stepped up.
Overall, it was a great learning opportunity for a young Tech team still gaining experience. The Hokies proved they can hang with the best for more than a half; can they build off of that on Wednesday vs. UNC Asheville and in future games? Time will tell, but they showed some flashes.
“I want to be grittier and tougher than we were today,” Duffy said. “I think we’re going to have to be a whole lot scrappier. I think we had it in moments. … I thought we were just off a little bit on [offense], but again, young team, big moment, big afternoon for women’s college hoops and we’ll keep pushing forward.”
Box Score: Iowa 71, Virginia Tech 52
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