INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke finished with 13 points and five rebounds despite playing with an injured right elbow, leading No. 9 Iowa past 10th-seeded Illinois 64-58 on Friday night and into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The Hawkeyes (25-5) have won seven straight and need two more wins to capture their fifth conference tourney crown in eight years. Taylor Stremlow had nine points and six assists, while Journey Houston grabbed 12 rebounds for Iowa.
Jasmine Brown-Haggard finished with 22 points and Berry Wallace added 13 for Illinois. The conference’s youngest team played its third game in three nights after advancing to the quarterfinal round following wins over Wisconsin and No. 18 Michigan State.
Stuelke’s return seemed to reinvigorate the Hawkeyes. She was injured during Iowa’s victory over the Fighting Illini on Feb. 26 and missed the Hawkeyes’ regular-season finale last weekend. Coach Jan Jensen said the injury was so severe Stuelke struggled to shoot during the week, consulted with wrestling trainers about how to treat it and then fell ill, making Friday’s availability unclear.
None of it didn’t seem to bother Stuelke, who went 6 of 11 from the field and helped Iowa take control quickly before getting some extra rest late in the game.
The Hawkeyes used an early 12-2 run to take a 19-7 lead late in the first quarter and the Illini spent the rest of the game futilely playing catch-up. Iowa extended the margin to 34-18 late in the second quarter and led 37-23 at the half.
The Hawkeyes led by double digits, extending the margin to as much as 53-31 early in the fourth, until Illinois finally cut the deficit to nine in the final minute.
Up next
Illinois: Will find out where it goes and who it plays on selection weekend.
Iowa: Faces No. 8 Michigan in Saturday’s second semifinal game in Indy.
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