INDIANAPOLIS — In a decisive first-round matchup of the Big Ten Tournament held Wednesday night, the 11th-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes triumphed over No. 14-seed Wisconsin with a convincing 81-54 victory.
Lucy Olsen led Iowa’s charge by contributing a significant portion of her 19 points in the first half, boasting an impressive 8-for-12 shooting performance. Additionally, the trio of Sydney Affolter, Kylie Feuerbach, and Taylor McCabe each added nine points, propelling the Hawkeyes (21-9) to a remarkable 57.4% shooting success rate from the floor, including a 55% accuracy from beyond the arc.
For Wisconsin (13-17), Serah Williams stood out by scoring 22 points. The game was tightly contested initially, with the Badgers taking a 9-6 lead following a shot by Tess Myers with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. However, Iowa quickly seized control, orchestrating a commanding 19-0 run to wrap up the quarter, putting themselves in a dominant position for the remainder of the game.
Olsen bookended that surge with layups, while McCabe, Affolter, and Feuerbach each contributed three-pointers, granting the Hawkeyes a solid 25-9 lead. Iowa maintained a double-digit advantage from that point onward, heading into halftime with a 43-23 lead and extending their dominance to 65-39 by the third quarter’s close.
With this victory, Iowa advances to face the sixth-seeded Michigan State in the next round scheduled for Thursday.
