INDIANAPOLIS — Lucy Olsen scored 14 of her 19 points in the first half on 8-for-12 shooting and 11th-seeded Iowa beat No. 14-seed Wisconsin 81-54 in a first-round matchup in the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night.
Sydney Affolter, Kylie Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe each scored nine points as the Hawkeyes (21-9) shot 57.4% (35 for 61) including 55% (11 for 20) from 3-point range.
Serah Williams scored 22 points for Wisconsin (13-17).
Wisconsin’s Tess Myers made a jumper with 6:37 left in the first quarter to give the Badgers a 9-6 lead. From there, Iowa all but buttoned it up by launching into a 19-0 run to close the quarter.
Olsen started and ended the run with layups and in between, McCabe, Affolter and Feuerbach made 3s for a 25-9 advantage. Iowa led by double digits the rest of the way and was up 43-23 at halftime and 65-39 at the end of the third quarter.
Iowa advances to play sixth-seeded Michigan State on Thursday.