Hannah Stuelke, and the rest of Iowa’s post posse, regain their mojo

IOWA CITY — Hannah was Hannah again.

Senior Hannah Stuelke scored a season-high 31 points, and Iowa’s other two posts also enjoyed significant bouncebacks as the 11th-ranked Hawkeyes downed Lindenwood, 102-68, in a non-conference women’s basketball game before an understandably far-less-than-full Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“This whole year, we haven’t seen Hannah be Hannah,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said about the Cedar Rapids native. “She came out of the game once today, and I reminded her, ‘This is who you are.’”

Ava Heiden added 14 points, making all seven of her floor shots, Layla Hays tacked on 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and the Hawkeyes (10-1) recovered nicely after suffering a 74-69 loss Wednesday at Iowa State.

“This felt really good,” said Stuelke, who converted 13 of 18 shots. “I haven’t been making shots like I’d like to I wanted to. It felt really good going into next week’s game.”

That would be Saturday, when the Hawkeyes tangle with No. 1 Connecticut, the reigning national champion.

“I think this will be a turning point for me,” said Stuelke, who averaged 14.0 points per game as a sophomore and 12.7 as a junior.

Saturday’s effort bumped Stuelke’s senior-season scoring average from 11.3 points per game to 13.1.

This was vintage Iowa, which shot 58 percent from the floor (40 of 69), and accumulated 31 assists.

Stuelke scored 11 points in the first quarter, 19 in the first half, and the Hawkeyes gradually and methodically pulled away.

“I came into this game aggressive, and (the shots) were going in,” she said.

Iowa led 24-15 after a quarter, 50-34 at halftime.

Lindenwood (7-3) scored the first six points of the second half to creep within 50-40, but Iowa’s posts took over through from there. Iowa led 72-49 after three quarters.

Teagan Mallegni, seeing her first action since Nov. 22, got the Hawkeyes to the century mark with a late 3-pointer.

Chit-Chat Wright, who returned to regular action Wednesday (she scored a career-high 21 points at Iowa State), played sparingly in this one, scoring six points in 14 minutes.

“We were just being really cautious,” Jensen said. “It wasn’t necessary to push that through. She was a little concerned, so we decided to just chill it.”

Emely Rodriguez remained sidelined for the fifth consecutive game.

Journey Houston continued to give quality minutes off the bench, registering 10 points and six rebounds.

“I’ve always had a knack for the ball, staying ready at all times,” she said.

Iowa 102, Lindenwood 68

At Iowa City

LINDENWOOD (68): Gracie Kelsey 3-8 0-0 7, Aleisha Jones 4-8 0-0 9, Gracy Wernli 3-7 0-0 7, Ellie Brueggemann 6-10 2-3 16, Brooke Coffey 6-12 0-0 14, Valerie Norwood 0-4 0-0 0, Anna McCarn 0-0 0-0 0, Mya Skoff 5-7 1-2 13, Alyssa Nielsen 0-2 0-0 0, Aalayah Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, Noah Garcia 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 3-5 68.

IOWA (102): Hannah Stuelke 13-18 5-10 31, Ava Heiden 7-7 0-1 14, Taylor McCabe 3-7 0-0 9, Kylie Feuerbach 3-4 0-1 7, Chit-Chat Wright 2-6 0-0 5, Layla Hays 5-6 1-1 11, Taylor Stremlow 3-5 0-0 8, Addie Deal 0-5 2-2 2, Journey Houston 4-7 2-2 10, Callie Levin 0-3 0-0 0, Kennise Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Teagan Mallegni 1-1 2-2 5. Totals 41-71 12-19 102.

Lindenwood 15 19 15 19 — 68

Iowa 24 26 22 30 — 102

3-point goals: Lindenwood 9-25 (Kelsey 1-2, Jones 1-4, Wernli 1-5, Brueggemann 2-6, Coffey 2-3, Skoff 2-3, Nielsen 0-2), Iowa 10-21 (McCabe 3-7, Feuerbach 2-2, Wright 2-4, Stremlow 2-2, Deal 0-3, Levin 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Mallegni 1-1). Team fouls: Lindenwood 18, Iowa 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Lindenwood 25 (Coffey 4), Iowa 40 (Stuelke, Hays, Houston 6). Assists: Lindenwood 9 (Jones 2), Iowa 31 (McCabe 7). Steals: Lindenwood 4 (Jones 2), Iowa 13 (Stuelke 3). Turnovers: Lindenwood 20, Iowa 10.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com