Iowa shuts down No. 6 Michigan on Senior Day, wins its fourth straight, 62-44

IOWA CITY — One day after suffering through a sick Saturday, Ava Heiden flipped the switch into a rarely seen realm.

Bad-ass.

Heiden tallied 20 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, and 13th-ranked Iowa held No. 6 Michigan to roughly half of its season scoring average in a festive 62-44 Senior Day women’s basketball triumph before a crowd of 14,998 Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Ava wasn’t feeling great at practice Saturday,” Iowa Coach Jan Jensen said. “She looked a little peaked, and she started a little flat.

“I had a chat with her in the second quarter: ‘Nobody knows you’re not feeling your best. If you’re sick, I get it, but we’ve got to go in a different direction.’

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“At halftime, she must have had some bananas or something, and she kind of tripped it.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, after Heiden scored to give the Hawkeyes (22-5 overall, 13-3 Big Ten) a 50-40 lead, officials stopped play and gathered Heiden and Michigan’s Ashley Sofilkanich for a summit meeting.

“Sometimes, butting heads happens,” said the normally mild-mannered Heiden. “Sometimes, stuff slips out.

“Props to (Sofilkanich) and (Kendall Dudley). We were just playing basketball.”

On the Iowa’s next offensive set, Heiden punked Sofilkanich with a slick up-and-under move. Heiden scored 12 of Iowa’s last 14 points and had double-doubles in all three of the Hawkeyes’ games week (all wins).

Iowa won its fourth consecutive game and moved alongside Michigan (22-5, 13-3) in a second-place tie in the Big Ten with two games to play.

Credit an effort than Jensen termed “blue-collar.”

“When we’re rolling, we’ve got that,” she said. “They bought in, locked in, this was two good teams going at it.”

Michigan entered the game averaging 86.6 points per game, but the Hawkeyes held them to a season-low output. The Wolverines shot 30.5 percent from the field and committed 24 turnovers.

“We put Kylie (Feuerbach) on (opponents’) best player, game in and game out,” Jensen said. “She sets the tone for us.”

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Feuerbach was one of four Iowa seniors saluted following the game, along with Hannah Stuelke, Taylor McCabe and Jada Gyamfi.

Stuelke missed the Purdue game Thursday with a minor shoulder injury. The Cedar Rapids native was back for this one, and contributed 11 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

“I got some days to rest, then get back,” she said. “It was a high-emotion experience for me.”

The final regular-season home game for the Hawkeyes is Thursday against Illinois; tip is 8 p.m.

Then it’s Wisconsin on the road next Sunday before the Big Ten tournament the first week of March.

The teams combined for 19 turnovers in the first quarter, which ended in a 12-12 stalemate. Iowa pulled away with an 8-0 run in the second quarter, and led 27-20 at halftime.

Heiden dominated the Hawkeyes’ second-half scoring, but two third-quarter plays by others loomed large:

* Callie Levin scored on a floater in the lane to beat the shot clock and make it 35-24.

* And Feuerbach banked home a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Hawkeyes into the fourth in front, 42-35.

Feuerbach added eight points, and limited Olson — who came into the game averaging 20.3 points per game in Big Ten play — to 13.

Iowa 62, Michigan 44

At Iowa City

MICHIGAN (44): Ashley Sofilkanich 3-7 1-1 7, Olivia Olson 6-16 0-0 13, Mia Holloway 4-10 2-2 11, Brooke Q. Daniels 0-2 0-0 0, Syla Swords 3-11 0-0 7, Kendall Dudley 0-3 0-0 0, Te’Yala Delfosse 2-8 0-0 6, Alyssa Crockett 0-0 0-0 0, McKenzie Mathurin 0-2 0-0 0, Macy Brown 0-0 0-0 0.

IOWA (62): Hannah Stuelke 5-10 1-2 11, Ava Heiden 11-17 2-2 24, Taylor Stremlow 2-8 0-0 6, Kylie Feuerbach 3-5 0-0 8, Chit-Chat Wright 2-9 0-0 4, Journey Houston 2-5 0-0 4, Addie Deal 1-1 1-2 3, Callie Levin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-56 4-6 62.

Michigan 12 8 15 9 — 44

Iowa 12 15 15 20 — 62

3-point goals: Michigan 5-16 (Olson 1-2, Holloway 1-2, Swords 1-6, Delfosse 2-4, Mathurin 0-2), Iowa 4-15 (Stremlow 2-6, Feuerbach 2-4, Wright 0-5). Team fouls: Michigan 15, Iowa 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Michigan 36 (Holloway 8), Iowa 34 (Stuelke 12). Assists: Michigan 9 (Holloway 4), Iowa 17 (Stuelke 7). Steals: Michigan 13 (Sofilkanich, Holloway 3), Iowa 11 (Stremlow 3). Turnovers: Michigan 24, Iowa 18.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com