After an incredible six-game winning streak, Jan Jensen's Iowa Hawkeyes suffered another loss as they went down 86-78 in overtime against No. 8 Ohio State on Monday. The Hawkeyes' run this season has been hot and cold, as they had a great start before losing five games straight in January.
Despite a bounce back, including the 76-69 win over No. 4 USC, Iowa's inconsistencies are back to haunt it. Speaking to the press after the game, Hawkeyes coach Jensen shared her thoughts on the loss to the conference rival.
"I think it's frustrating, but I think it's positive when you look at where we were about five weeks ago," she said. "It's a top 10 team on the road; we had foul trouble, we played overtime without Sid without Kylie."
Jensen also pointed fingers at inconsistent officiating, sharing that it affected the game in some ways.
"When you have inconsistency with that, it's hard to stop a really amazingly strong player like Cody McMahon because you get a lot of fouls," she said. "She gets a say in the game, how it's called. You get one of your kids fouled out, so it's just the luck of the draw with that."
Jan Jensen and Iowa's late pickup cost everything
Iowa had a slow start to Monday's game. After a bit of back-and-forth in the first quarter, it was evident that the Buckeyes had the upper hand as they continued to stack points and widen the gap. At halftime, Ohio State was leading 34-21.
The Hawkeyes only seemed to pick themselves up in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime. While Jan Jensen's team added only two points in OT, the Buckeyes had 12, taking the win.
Pointing to this late start, Jan Jensen said:
"The frustration is the would have, could have, should have, right? Oh man, if we just would have done one defensive assignment correctly at the right time in the overtime, if we would just run one of our sets a little bit more cleanly; it's always that one possession. I think that's why Sid's probably feeling a little frustrated."
The Hawkeyes have five days to rest before the big matchup against No. 3 UCLA on Sunday. Jensen and Iowa have two more games after that against Michigan and Wisconsin.
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