The Iowa Hawkeyes ended the MSU women's basketball team's six-game winning streak Sunday with a 78-67 upset at Breslin Center.
"Iowa has two fantastic seniors and they showed what senior leadership is all about today," MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "Perhaps that is something our team can learn a little bit about as we get older."
The game was tied at 67 when Iowa forward Jennie Lillis hit two free throws to take the lead. The next time down the floor, guard Kristi Faulkner hit a runner to seal the Hawkeyes' win. Iowa (12-7 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) then closed out the game with seven free throws while MSU was held scoreless.
Faulkner and Lillis finished with 19 and 14 points, respectively, but it was center Jamie Cavey who led the way for Iowa with 21 points.
"There is a young lady who hardly played at all last year," McCallie said. "She was basically the difference maker in the game."
The Hawkeyes were 6-for-16 from 3-point land in the first half, adding four more in the second half.
"Defensively, we didn't get enough stops," sophomore guard Lindsay Bowen said. "We were outworked, outfought and outhustled."
MSU got off to yet another slow start, scoring its first points of the game at 15:19 left in the first half, on two Liz Shimek free throws.
The Spartans were down 31-28 right before the half, when junior guard Kristin Haynie ended the half with six straight points. The momentum carried over into the second half, but MSU could not shake the pesky Hawkeyes.
Bowen led the way for the Spartans with 22 points, splitting the total evenly between the two halves. She did not get enough help, however, as the sophomore Shimek was the only other player in double figures.
The Spartans held the free-throw advantage, 37 to 20, as both teams were in the bonus with 10 minutes left in the second half. At one point, MSU had shot 27 more free throws than Iowa.
"We gave up 47 points in the second half; that's just ridiculous for as good of a defensive team as we are," Haynie said. "The game shouldn't have come down to the last few minutes with us being tied."
It was the second game in a row the Spartans were outrebounded by an opponent, as they had out-rebounded 17 of the previous 18 opponents before this week.
"We'll watch film and learn from our mistakes and come into practice this week focused on defense and rebounding," Haynie said.
The game was the first of a three-game home stretch for the Spartans. MSU will have a chance to regroup and then are back in action at 7 p.m. Thursday against Wisconsin.
