A sloppy first quarter doomed the Hawkeyes, who drop to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in Big Ten play.
Iowa women's basketball ran into a buzzsaw in Los Angeles, falling BLANK-BLANK to the unranked USC Trojans on Thursday.
Turnovers doomed the Hawkeyes all night, as they finished with 13 compared to only five for the Trojans. The mistakes contributed to a poor shooting night (41% FG, 35% 3PT).
The Hawkeyes drop to 18-3 overall and 9-1 in Big Ten play with the loss.
First Half
West Coast trips have often been a problem for the Big Ten's traditional teams across all sports due to the long travel, and the Hawkeyes looked slightly jet-lagged out of the gate. USC's length forced three careless Iowa turnovers, and senior forward Hannah Stuelke picked up her second foul of the game just 2:30 into the contest.
This uncharacteristic start allowed the Trojans to jump to a 9-2 lead, forcing Hawkeye head coach Jan Jensen to burn a timeout. Iowa was mired in a two-minute field goal drought by this point, but it came out of the timeout with a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to two.
USC called a timeout to stop the bleeding, and followed with a run of its own to swing the pendulum back to the home side. The Hawkeyes closed the quarter with a 2:41 scoring drought, and the fouls and turnovers began to pile up as the Trojans led 28-13 after one.
Kylie Feuerbach tried to provide a spark with a three pointer, but USC's defense continued to fluster Iowa for most of the second. The Trojans emphasized taking the ball away from the post, and that strategy forced the Hawkeyes to take contested jumpers, which didn't fall.
Once USC's lead blossomed to 17 points, that was when Iowa decided to wake up. Taylor Stremlow's outside shooting helped engineer a 10-2 Hawkeye scoring run to trim the deficit down to just six by halftime, 43-37.
Iowa recovered from its two field goal droughts to shoot a modest 38.9% from the field (.902 points per possession), but the turnover battle (9 for Iowa, 1 for USC) proved to be the difference in the half.
Second Half
Despite playing one of their worst halves of basketball this year, the Hawkeyes weren't deterred, and made their first six field goals of the period. Just when it seemed Iowa was on the verge of grabbing the lead, but USC bounced back with a 9-0 spurt to jump ahead by 12.
The trio of Jazzy Davidson, Londynn Jones, and Kara Dunn were the main difference-makers for the Trojans in this stretch, especially Dunn, who surpassed the 20-point plateau by the end of the third, where USC held a comfortable 70-51 edge - its largest of the evening.
Any potential Iowa rally was smoked out, and the Hawkeyes' undefeated reign in the Big Ten was over.
Up Next
The Hawkeyes close out their West Coast trip on Sunday, Feb. 1, with a marquee matchup at No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins come in at 20-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in Big Ten play. Their only loss came to No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26.
Tip off is set for 3 p.m. CST on FOX.