“Ava! Ava!”Hawkeye women knock off No. 24 Michigan State 74-61, reach Big Ten quarterfinals

INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa fans chanted “Ava! Ava! Ava!” with 34 seconds left in the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten tournament game against Michigan State on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Iowa reserve freshman center Ava Heiden was about to shoot two free throws as Iowa was sewing up their 74-61 victory over the 24th-ranked Spartans. She made one for her 11th point of the second half and game, a career-high.

Heiden came off the bench to score all of her career-high 11 points for Iowa in the game’s last 12:44, giving her team a big lift late in the third quarter after foul trouble beset Hannah Stuelke.

Stuelke got her fourth foul with 2:44 left in the third, and Iowa head coach Jan Jensen subbed in Heiden, who had played just one minute in the game. Heiden quickly scored six points as Iowa went from a 46-46 tie to a 54-48 lead at the end of the quarter.

Michigan State opened the fourth quarter with a Jaddan Simmons 3-point play, but Heiden got a couple more hoops to help the Hawkeyes pull away.

Heiden, from Sherwood, Ore., also had four rebounds and two of her team’s 16 steals in her 12 minutes of play.

“Just waiting for my opportunity and working towards it,” Heiden said, “so that when I do get that, I can shine.”

The 6-foot-4 Heiden was a four-star recruit, a player who averaged 17 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. The Big Ten isn’t Oregon high school basketball, and Heiden’s first season predictably has been inconsistent with flashes of great athleticism and skills.

“I think every freshman goes through this,” she said. “It’s definitely a roller coaster, ups and downs in going from being the best player in high school to everyone around me is great. So (I’ve been) learning to navigate that and just putting the work in every day so that I can create that separation for myself.”

“Any freshman that’s great, it’s hard on all of them,” Jensen said.

“Consistency is the key, right? I’ve told Ava ‘The game’s bigger, faster, stronger, and your time will come.’ ”

Jensen said Heiden was her team’s best post matchup for VanSlooten, and she was proven right.

The Hawkeyes danced around more foul trouble than Stuelke’s in the third quarter. Star guard Lucy Olsen was assessed her third in the second minute of the second half.

Jensen got a technical foul for her response to the call on Stuelke’s third foul, a charge with 7:10 left in the third.

“I was hot,” Jensen said. “I don’t like to get that hot. I’m working on it. I did thank (her players) in the locker room for making that a win with my first tech.

“I wasn’t the best example tonight of getting composed with the refs. But I told (the players) ‘Let me do that, and you guys need to do your jobs.’ And I thought they did a really good job in the second half of not trying to coach the refs.”

With the two key players out, Michigan State took the lead and built it to 46-41. It was 46-46 when Stuelke, who had just returned to the game, got her fourth foul.

The game, to use Heiden’s term, was a roller coaster. The Hawkeyes had a rocky first quarter, making just 4 of 16 shots and turning the ball over six times, but they were down just 16-12 when it ended.

Then, the ball-hawking Hawkeyes forced a slew of Spartan turnovers and Stuelke scored eight points as Iowa began the second quarter with a 16-0 run.

Michigan State’s first points in the period came with 3:16 left. The Spartans trailed 32-25 at halftime, with 15 first-half turnovers. Stuelke had four first-half steals. Iowa held the 7-point lead despite making just 2 of 14 three-pointers.

In the third quarter, the Spartans went from seven points down to five points up to six points down. Iowa led the rest of the way, though it was a 5-point game with 3:30 left.

Olsen led the Hawkeyes with a game-high 21 points. Stuelke and Taylor McCabe had 12 each. Michigan State ended with 24 turnovers.

Ohio State is next. Iowa avenged a 2-point loss at Michigan State last Dec. 15. It lost in overtime at Ohio State on Feb. 17, 86-78.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com