Heiden scores 16 points, Stuelke return helps send No. 9 Iowa past Illinois 64-58 in Big Ten tournament
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 semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hawkeyes (25-5) have won seven straight and need two more victories to clinch their fifth conference tournament title in eight years. Taylor Stremlow had nine points and six assists, while Journey Houston grabbed 12 rebounds for Iowa.
Announcement
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 quarterfinals following wins over Wisconsin and No. 18 Michigan State.
Stuelke’s return seemed to reinvigorate the Hawkeyes. She was injured during Iowa’s win over the Fighting Illini on Feb. 26 and missed the Hawkeyes’ regular-season finale last weekend with what coach Jan Jensen described as a “pretty serious” injury.
But that didn’t seem to bother Stuelke, who went 6-of-11 from the field and helped Iowa take control quickly before getting some rest late in the game.
The Hawkeyes used an early 12-2 run to take a 19-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and the Illini spent the rest of the game playing catch-up to no avail. Iowa extended the margin to 34-18 late in the second quarter and led 37-23 at halftime.
Announcement
The Hawkeyes led by double digits, extending the margin to 53-31 early in the fourth, until Illinois finally cut the deficit to nine in the final minute.
Next
Illinois: Will find out where they go and who they play on selection weekend.
Iowa: Will face Oregon or No. 8 Michigan in Saturday’s second semifinal in Indy.
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