Bench gives Hawks boost over No. 13 Purdue
The Iowa women’s basketball team improved its depth and its record at the expense of 13th-ranked Purdue on Saturday.
Iowa was led in scoring by two starters, but it also took key contributions off the bench from sophomore guard Theairra Taylor and seldom used freshman forward Virginia Johnson to defeat Purdue 59-42 before an announced crowd of 6,278 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Taylor and Johnson both entered the game with Iowa struggling on offense in the first half and then made an immediate impact by driving to the basket and crashing the boards.
“Virginia is so explosive, and so is Theairra, and we were able to use that,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “They offensive rebounded really well also. But I think more than anything it was just their explosiveness off the dribble.”
Iowa was ice cold from the field to start the game, missing 12 of its first 13 shots. The Hawkeyes had only made three field goals when Johnson, a former star at City High, blew past her defender and made a layup to cut the deficit to 15-9 with 5 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half.
Her basket triggered a 16-6 Hawkeye scoring run that lifted Iowa to a 23-21 lead at halftime.
Taylor also helped key the first-half rally by scoring four points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out two assists and collecting one steal before halftime.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence and definitely the players a lot of confidence with the bench giving us 16 points tonight,” Bluder said.
Iowa outscored Purdue by one point off the bench Saturday with Johnson and Taylor finishing with six points apiece. That was a dramatic change from the first game against Purdue on Jan. 15 when the Boilermakers used a 22-0 advantage in bench points to help secure a 57-55 victory in West Layfayette, Ind.
“Their players came in and made a difference,” Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. “It was kind of a role reversal from the first game.”
Johnson had been slowed by concussion-like symptoms and had only appeared in 10 games before Saturday, scoring just 16 points.
Taylor had appeared in all 21 games before Saturday, but was only playing an average of 10.2 minutes per game. She played a season-high 21 minutes Saturday and showed little effect from the three knee surgeries that have plagued her career.
“I was extremely happy for Virginia coming in and playing that well, and nobody deserves it more than Theairra,” Bluder said. “I’m just extremely happy for our team and we’re going to enjoy this one.”
Saturday marked the seventh time this season that Iowa has faced a ranked opponent, with the previous six games all resulting in losses.
The victory improved Iowa’s records to 12-10 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten heading into Thursday’s game at Wisconsin.
Purdue (18-4, 8-1 Big Ten) lost for the first time in conference play and for the first time since dropping a 72-65 decision at Central Michigan on Dec. 11.
“I’m so happy for this group because it’s been a tough January,” Bluder said. “You know you play (seven) teams that are (ranked) in the top 25; we finally got one.
“You get to so many games where it’s could’ve, should’ve and almost, and it wears on you. And sometimes that can defeat teams. And I guess I’m most proud of my team because they didn’t let it defeat them. They kept coming back. They kept believing.”
The 6-foot-2 Johnson started believing in herself more as Saturday’s game progressed. Her quickness caused problems for Purdue’s taller frontline players on both ends of the floor.
Johnson scored all six of her points in the first half and she grabbed five of her six rebounds in the second half. She also had two blocks and one steal while playing 18 minutes.
“It really kind of boosted the confidence a lot just to get the feel for the game,” Johnson said..
Taylor came off the bench looking to drive more to the basket on Saturday because she wasn’t pleased with her performance during Thursday’s 60-53 loss at Nebraska. She only played eight minutes against Nebraska and missed all three of her field-goal attempts.
“I was mainly focusing on the last game where I was standing out there and I was clogging everything up for the players,” Taylor said. “So I knew coming into this game that I was going to try and at least open it up, start putting the ball on the ground and try getting some players open.”
As for Iowa’s starters, they also made significant contributions Saturday, especially junior center Morgan Johnson and senior guard Kamille Wahlin. Johnson led Iowa with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Wahlin finished with 13 points, all of which came in the second half.
Wahlin also made two 3-point baskets within the first three minutes of the second half to help Iowa seize the momentum. Her second trey expanded Iowa’s lead to 31-23 with 17:23 left to play.
The Hawkeyes led by as many as 18 points in the second half despite shooting just 39.3 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and 38.9 percent overall.
Iowa’s defense stepped up big, holding Purdue to just one field goal in the final 11 minutes of the game. The Boilermakers only made 14-of-60 field-goal attempts overall and were outrebounded 54-38.
“We needed it,” Wahlin said. “I think we’ll feed off of it going into our next game.
“It’s almost a relief that we have a feeling of a good win.”
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball
