By John Bohnenkamp
Jan Jensen was asked about her team’s first half of Sunday’s game against Maryland.
“I’d prefer to talk about the second (half),” the Iowa women’s basketball coach quipped.
Yes, the second half against the eighth-ranked Terrapins was a lot better, and certainly a lot more fun.
But it was the dismal first half by the No. 23 Hawkeyes that made all of the difference in the 74-66 loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes (12-3 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) have been plagued by slow starts in their last two games. They survived being down 24-15 at the end of the first quarter in last Wednesday’s 80-68 road win against Penn State, but that was nothing compared to the chasm they faced in this game.
Iowa fell behind 13-2 early, then gave up an 18-1 run in the second quarter, trailing by as much as 25 points before being behind 48-27 at halftime.
And although a second-half fury got the Hawkeyes to within five twice — the last time at 71-66 with 45 seconds to play — the climb was too steep.