MINNEAPOLIS – For as anticlimactically intense as the two Iowa-Maryland regular season games were, you had to expect drama in round three.
Man, there was plenty.
Two of college basketball’s heavyweights traded shots on the Target Center floor, emotions running high on both ends with a Big Ten Tournament title game berth on the line and potentially a March Madness No. 1 seed. The Hawkeyes and Terps need no introductions, especially after just meeting last week in a game Lisa Bluder’s team hoped to forget.
This was Iowa’s show, though.
An answer that awaited every time Maryland made a second-half push to tie or take the lead, the No. 2 seed Hawkeyes advanced to Sunday’s title game with an 89-84 semifinal victory Saturday in Minneapolis. The win propels Iowa (25-6) into its third straight Big Ten Tournament title game, where it will face No. 4 seed Ohio State (25-6) at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Buckeyes upset regular-season champion Indiana in the other semifinal.
Bluder largely took the heat for last Tuesday’s 96-68 loss at Maryland, saying she didn’t have her Hawkeyes prepared for the Terps’ defensive adjustments and box-and-1. That day, Iowa sputtered to an eight-point second quarter and spent the entire second half chasing an unattainable deficit.
“I wouldn’t let that happen again,” Bluder said.
Iowa responded with probably their most well-distributed offensive effort of the season. The Hawkeyes’ entire starting lineup reached double figures while accounting for all of Iowa’s points, forcing Maryland (25-6) to chase unsuccessfully all the way. The Hawkeyes’ second-half lead never reached double digits, but the Terps trailed just once after halftime.
When that moment finally arrived with 2:19 left, all Iowa did was rise and deliver its most massive response of the day.
After McKenna Warnock got a crucial offensive rebound off a long Caitlin Clark miss, Gabbie Marshall splashed home the last of her game-high seven to give the Hawkeyes the lead for good, at 82-79 with 1:44 left. While Maryland made it a tighter finish than Iowa wanted — climbing within three with possession in the closing minute — Warnock eventually closed things down with four free throws in the final 25 seconds.
It’s been a late-season resurgence for Marshall — especially in Minneapolis, where she paired Saturday’s 21-point outing with Friday’s 11-point showing for her first back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts this season. Passion and pride poured in from the senior guard as she finished 7-for-13 from deep, making Marshall 24-for-43 (56%) from outside since the start of February.
“It’s a long season,” Marshall said, “and you’re going to have ups and downs. You’re going to face adversity. But just having the team the veteran team that we have, we’ve been through it. We I’ve been here before. We are so close and on the field and I think that really helps.
“It’s a long game. They have to run. We have to run. And we just have to stick together. Our circle is tight just because we’ve played together for so long. That helps a lot in March.”
It showed throughout, as Iowa constructed a first-half advantage as large as 12, only to see the Terps come back in the final 20 minutes. Unable to shake Maryland completely free, the Hawkeyes could not afford to waver in focus or intensity against such a potent foe. The balanced offensive effort prevented Maryland from finding the same defensive success it had in College Park.
The Hawkeyes then pushed their lead to six with 45 seconds remaining, only for Maryland to counter with five straight to provide a more tense finish than the Hawkeyes had envisioned.
Clark’s 22 points still led Iowa, with nine of them arriving on her first three shots. Eighteen of Warnock’s 21 came in the second half. Kate Martin nearly entered Clark’s triple-double territory with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Monika Czinano’s 15 points and eight rebounds kept Maryland from fully committing to the Hawkeyes’ presence at center, which included a Big Ten Tournament record 40 3-point attempts.
“It’s so important,” Warnock said. “We played three games in three days – so someone could have an off night one night – and to know that we have four or five other girls who can step up, it’s honestly a dream to be on a team like that .”
There haven’t been many bad moments Iowa has needed to wash out this season, but the Maryland debacle was certainly one of them. For the Hawkeyes to successfully capitalize on another Terrapin opportunity — and do so in the offensive fashion they did — should provide further confidence that any issues can be quickly fixed.
Now comes another date with the Buckeyes, whom Iowa sent into a tailspin in February that they are only now recovering from. The Hawkeyes toppled Ohio State on Jan. 23 with an 11-point road win, but it came with Buckeyes star Jacy Sheldon on the sidelines.
One more chance for a resounding show before the real March action begins. After Saturday, Iowa appears poised to complete its part in Minneapolis.
Dargan Southard is a trending journalist covering Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com.