Iowa wins in OT, Gustafson breaks two records

With 27 points and 14 rebounds, Megan Gustafson broke Iowa’s single season marks in both categories in a 77-67 overtime win over Rutgers.

She now has 698 points this season, passing Cindy Haugejorde’s record by 26 points. The 355 rebounds she now has breaks the her own record she set last season. Gustafson is in the midst of one of the greatest seasons by any Iowa basketball player ever, and what she’s doing is simply incredible.

The Hawkeyes have now won six-straight games and are firmly in the NCAA bracket, currently projected as a No. 8 seed. With one game (against Indiana) left and the Big Ten tournament, there’s still a bit of potential to move a bit. The Hawkeyes are now 22-6 on the season.

Win No. 22 didn’t come easy.

Down nine with 4:05 to play, the Hawkeyes mounted a furious comeback, eventually tying the score at 59 with nine seconds left to play. Kathleen Doyle hit a three-pointer to tie the game and the Hawkeyes went on to dominate overtime.

“It was a great play by (Makenzie Meyer) to find me and I knocked it down, we got a (defensive) stop and headed to overtime,” Doyle said to HawkeyeSports. “We are confident in ourselves when we get to an overtime situation.”

Gustafson scored five of her 27 in the extra period. Oh and the win probability chart? It was absolutely wild.

It’s the Hawkeyes’ third-straight victory over Rutgers.

“I’m thankful this team kept believing no matter what and just kept staying the course,” Bluder said to HawkeyeSports after the game.

If there’s one thing Iowa has been this year, it’s persistent. They’ve been able to come out after a truly horrendous middle of the season to once again look like one of the best teams in the Big Ten.

The conference tournament, which Bluder has had plenty of success in, should be quite interesting. Iowa’s now 10-5 in the conference and sitting in fourth-place. I’m not sure what the tiebreaker is with Minnesota, who will likely beat a bad Illinois team in the Gophers final game of the season. Iowa’s 1-1 against Minnesota this season.

Here’s the Big Ten standings:

We’ll see what happens over the next couple weeks, but hopefully the Hawkeyes are able to make a bit of a postseason run. That... that would be a lot of fun.