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Takeaways: Big Ten tournament quarterfinals

By Blake DuDonis

COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 21: Scorer of the winning basket Maryland Terrapins guard Kaila Charles (5) with center Olivia Owens (35) and guard Taylor Mikesell (11) at the end of a women's college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, on February 21, 2019, at Xfinity Center, in College Park, Maryland.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 21: Scorer of the winning basket Maryland Terrapins guard Kaila Charles (5) with center Olivia Owens (35) and guard Taylor Mikesell (11) at the end of a women's college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, on February 21, 2019, at Xfinity Center, in College Park, Maryland.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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COLLEGE PARK, MD – JANUARY 04: Megan Gustafson
COLLEGE PARK, MD – JANUARY 04: Megan Gustafson /

#2 Iowa 70, #10 Indiana 61

Stop me if you’re heard this before: Megan Gustafson scored 30 points and recorded a double-double as the Hawkeyes win again.

The Big Ten Player of the Year and all-time Iowa great pulled down 17 rebounds as her team advances to their first semifinal appearance since her freshman year. While she was the one stuffing the stat sheet, the senior from Port Wing, Wisconsin was quick to deflect praise.

“Yeah, inside it’s not just me down there. We’ve got some very good post players on our team, and we battle against each other every single day in practice,” said Gustafson. “We make each other better. I’m not the player I am without those two for sure, and they really did help us out a ton. Monika (Czinano) a couple shots early on, and Hannah (Stewart) just being consistent as she always is. When we have more than just one person really battling down low, we’re pretty hard to stop.”

While the final margin was wide enough for Iowa to dribble out the clock at the end, it was Indiana who led with five minutes left on the clock.

“Well, it stinks. You know, you get the one-point lead and then you give up an open three,” said Indiana head coach Teri Moren. “And our intentions were in the right place, right. We knew that the key for them stopping them starts with how you’re going to guard Megan. And so we were, we were risking it all to have it all tonight, and we were going to try to clog it up as much as we could.”

Despite the loss, with wins over Iowa, UCLA, South Dakota and Michigan in the regular season, Indiana likely punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Iowa will take on Rutgers in the second game of the semifinals.

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