3 Takeaways from Iowa women's basketball's dismantling of Toledo

IOWA CITY The Iowa women continued their statement tour to start the season with a runaway, 94-57 win over Toledo on Saturday.

The Hawkeyes (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) raced out to a 28-point lead in the first half and never stopped putting distance between themselves and the Rockets (1-1, 0-0 MAC) in the win.

Iowa's Hannah Stuelke, right, draws a foul on a layup attempt during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Head coach Jan Jensen praised the intensity of her team following the victory.

I was really happy with the way they came out with that intensity, Jensen said.

I thought they had a really nice focus ...

Anytime you team does what you feel like they should have done, there is a sense of not only satisfaction, but of relief.

Toledo took a brief lead as Sammi Mikonowicz answered two Sydney Affolter free throws with two of her own and Kendall Carruthers connected on a three-point attempt.

Iowa's Taylor Stremlow, right, looks to beat her defender during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Between the 7:30 and 2:30 marks of the first quarter, the Hawkeyes managed a 17-0 run.

Junior forward Hannah Stuelke powered the surge with eight points on a 2-of-2 shooting performance from the field and 4-of-4 showing from the free throw line.

After closing the first quarter with a 28-10 lead and a 6-0 run, the Hawkeyes continued their dominance with a 4-0 start to the frame to build a 33-10 advantage with 7:56 remaining in the half.

Iowa outscored the Rockets 16-11 to close out the first half with a 49-21 lead.

In the second half, Iowa continued to pull away, swelling its lead to 71-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hawkeyes built their largest lead of the night on a pair of Taylor Stremlow free throws to take a 40-point, 86-46 lead with 3:04 remaining.

Iowa's Kylie Feuerbach, left, gets around a defender during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Toledo outscored Iowa 11-8 over the final three minutes to trim the final margin to 37.

Stuelke led the Hawkeyes with a game-high 17.

Taylor McCabe and Lucy Olsen added 14 apiece, Affolter scored 11 and Addison OGrady finished with 10.

Stuelke also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Mikonowicz matched Stuelke, leading Toledo with 17 points.

Carruthers finished with 15.

Iowa returns to action on Sunday for its first true road contest of the season with a matchup against Drake in Des Moines at 2 p.m.

Broadcast coverage of the game will be provided by ESPN+ (subscription required).

After being excluded from the Associated Press Top 25 upon its first update of the season, the Hawkeyes, who received the most votes (60) among teams absent from the poll, turned in their most dominant performance of the season.

According to Stuelke, the Hawkeyes made note of their absence from both the AP and coaches polls.

When the ranking came out, we talked about it, Stuelke said.

Lucy (Olsen) texted me right away and we were like, Yeah, that is not going to cut it.

It gave us a little fuel to our fire and we worked a lot harder.

Perhaps reports of Iowas regression were drastically exaggerated as Big Ten coaches and media left the Hawkeyes outside of the conferences preseason top five.

We are going to let them sleep on us, too, McCabe said.

The rankings only matter at the end of the year anyway.

Iowa's Sydney Affolter, right, drives towards the basket during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

During the Hawkeyes' utterly dominant first half, Iowa shot 59% from the field and 38% from three-point range.

Taylor McCabe, Hannah Stuelke and Lucy Olsen led the offensive explosion for the Hawkeyes.

Olsen led all first-half scorers with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the frame.

McCabe (11) and Stuelke (10) also posted efficient showings going 4-of-6 (3-of-5 from deep) and 3-of-4 in the frame.

Stuelke noted that Iowas defense, which held the Rockets to 22.2% shooting in the first half, helped set the stage for their offense.

Defense leads to offense, Stuelke said.

Us getting lots of stops was really crucial for that.

I think our defense was really good in that first quarter.

For the third straight game, Iowa failed to shoot better than 30% from three-point range as the Hawkeyes finished 4-of-14 from deep (28.6%).

Despite their success in the face of their shooting woes, Jensen said the teams three-point shooting needs to improve.

We are going to need it, Jensen said.

When I track those threes, they are just not great threes, some of them.

If I can get them to take those out of it, the percentage will go a little higher because they will then take a better one, it will feel better and they will have more confidence.

I have to do a better job of getting them understanding when to take it because they are not all quite green-light shooters that we can just take it.

Iowa's Addison O'Grady attempts a layup through contact during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Ava Heiden, left, backs down her defender during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Hannah Stuelke, right, draws a foul on a layup attempt during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa head coach Jan Jensen motions to her team during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Sydney Affolter, right, drives towards the basket during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Taylor McCabe lines up a three-point shot during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Lucy Olsen brings the ball up the floor during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Taylor Stremlow, right, looks to beat her defender during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Hannah Stuelke, right, goes up through contact during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Kylie Feuerbach, left, gets around a defender during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's A.J.

Ediger, left, looks to create space below the basket during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Kylie Feuerbach brings the ball up the court during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Addison O'Grady, left, attempts a field goal during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Sydney Affolter attempts a reverse layup during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Hannah Stuelke, right, attempts a layup during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Iowa's Kylie Feuerbach, right, attempts a three-pointer during a game against Toledo on Wednesday, Nov.

13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

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