The Hawkeyes had a poor defensive outing, allowing the Gophers to shoot 57% from the floor.
Much of the media attention in the days leading up to Thursday's Iowa-Minnesota women's basketball showdown was how the contest presented a good bounce-back opportunity for the Hawkeyes.
That thought made sense from the outside after Iowa's 0-2 week in Los Angeles, but this was far from the get-right game everyone thought it could be.
The unranked Golden Gophers decided to make this February contest a signature night for their rebuilding program, as they roared back from an early deficit to win, 91-85.
After racing to a 9-0 start in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes (18-5, 9-3) have now lost three straight. Not only was this Iowa's first loss to Minnesota since 2018, it's also the first time the Gophers (17-6, 8-4) have won in Iowa City since 2007 - ending a 14-game skid.
Here are two observations from Iowa's loss:
The Gophers couldn't miss
Minnesota came into this game averaging 73.8 points per game in conference play, but it might as well've been the 2016-16 Golden State Warriors on Thursday. The Gophers were unstoppable from all over the floor, but especially from distance, going 10/14 (71%).
When a team is clicking from outside, it usually means it's having a field day from the field. That was the case for Minnesota, which finished the night with an efficient 51% clip - likely one of its best outputs of the season.
"I have to watch the film, but I was really disappointed about that [the defense]," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said. "I'd say we spent about 70 percent of our practices on defense and the matchups and understanding who we had to guard and how good their [Minnesota's] three point shooting was, but that was a very poor performance on the defensive end."
When Jensen goes back and looks at the film from this game, she's not going to like what she sees. The coach was concerned about this Gopher team coming into this one, and Minnesota indeed brought those fears to reality.
Maura Braun (3/5), Grace Grocholski (3/5), and Tori McKinney (2-4), caused Iowa problems all night with their three-point shooting. Making matters worse, most of those looks were wide-open, which was uncharacteristic for the normally-stout Hawkeye defense.
"I'll just say our energy [was what went wrong defensively]. We tried to wait till the last minute instead of coming out and playing hard," sophomore point guard Chit-Chat Wright said.
Minnesota also recorded 32 points off the bench, while out-rebounding Iowa by 13 (41-28). The Gopher's dominance inside resulted in some Iowa fans calling for Jensen to switch to a zone defense, but Jensen said Minnesota's red-hot shooting made it impossible to do so.
"You just can't try a zone with a team like that. I mean, I should have maybe, but it's scary too, when they're shooting 86% to not go player to player coverage," Jensen said.
Bye week comes at a bad time
Iowa won't play again until next Wednesday, Feb. 11, when Washington comes to town. Bye weeks normally aren't a bad thing for a college basketball team, but it could be problematic for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa is clearly struggling to adjust to life without sharpshooter and team leader Taylor McCabe, and it will now have to sit on Thursday's loss for an extended period of time.
Jensen was asked about this after the game, and said if it were up to her, the Hawkeyes would play again tomorrow.
"I hate bye weeks when we lose - capital H to the A to the T to the E but it is what it is," Jensen said. "I have to figure out the rotations, and I have to be patient."