Freshman duo pushes Iowa through foul trouble and into the second round

Heiden turned to coach Jan Jensen as she made her way around the table and asked if she could keep it. The question was a good one, following the best game of young career which also happened to come in her first postseason appearance. Jensen smiled and asked Heiden if she could wait a little longer to take it home.

Heiden came in off the bench with junior forward Hannah Stuelke in foul trouble and scored a team-high 15 points to lead Iowa to a 92-57 victory against Murray State. It was a career high and marked her third consecutive game in double figures.

“I think that just over the past few months I’ve … put in a lot, a lot of extra work, and that has helped me get to the competence level and skill level to be able to come into games like this and perform well,” Heiden told reporters after the game.

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Just 40 seconds into the game, Stuelke picked up her first foul. Then, she picked up another at the 8:13 mark with her team trailing 6-2. What felt like an early warning sign turned out to be a sort of bat signal to Heiden, who jumped in to fill the gap. 

She subbed in moments later and went on to score 8 points in the first quarter. By halftime, she’d already scored a career-high 13. Quite the surprise for a player who recorded her first double-digit game with 11 points on March 6. Freshman guard Taylor Stremlow also recorded a career-high for the Hawkeyes with 10 points.

“This is the first time Ava and company — the young kids — have been on the biggest stage,” Jensen said. “… We challenged her and she really answered it.”

Stuelke did return after halftime and scored 11 points. She went 5-for-6 from the floor in 25 minutes with six rebounds.

In her absence, however, it was Heiden who held her own against Murray State’s fifth-year senior and all-time leading scorer Katelyn Young. Heiden’s three-inch height advantage was especially helpful in containing Young during her time on the court, and the Hawkeyes held the Murray State star to just six points and 1-for-7 shooting before she exited the game with an apparent left ankle injury. She had the ankle rewrapped and tested it with a quick jog, but did not re-enter the game for the Racers — a huge loss for the nation’s top-scoring offense.

Iowa ultimately had five players in double figures with a double-double from Lucy Olsen, and closed out the Racers’ season in dominant fashion.

“It’s really special to be in the NCAA Tournament, and we’ve just had so many people step up at different times this year, and I get to sit up here with the future,” Jensen said referring to Heiden and Stremlow, who were seated to her left.

After a few more questions, the student-athletes were dismissed, but not without one more question about the name plates. 

Sorry, not sorry, kids. Tournament organizers are going to have to hold onto those for at least another round. One of the only downsides to a dominant Saturday showing.

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Katelyn Young ends her legendary Murray State career

Although her day was cut short by a third-quarter ankle injury, Katelyn Young carved her name into Murray State history long before Saturday’s NCAA Tournament opener.

“When I finally got to her and bent down, I said, ‘You don’t owe me another minute, you don’t owe me anything, you’ve given this program everything,’” coach Rechelle Turner told reporters after the game. “That’s truly how I feel about it. I mean, she really changed the projection of this program and she stuck with us when it was hard.”

Young, who entered her final season as the program’s all-time leading scorer, had her jersey retired on March 1, as part of the senior day festivities. Fellow seniors Ava Learn, Trinity White and Jenna Walker were also honored after MSU picked up its 20th win for the second time in as many seasons.

“I’ve had great years here,” Young said, reflecting on her career. “All of my teammates are amazing. I love them, and I’m glad I went out on this year. This team has been awesome this year. There’s just really no regrets.”

She finished her career as the active NCAA Division I women’s basketball scoring leader with 3,029 points. That also lands her in the Top 15 all-time. 

“Just an exceptional career for an exceptional young woman,” Turner said. 

Raegan Beers paces Oklahoma with double-double

Oklahoma forward Raegan Beers gave Florida Gulf Coast fits for every one of the 28-plus minutes she played on Saturday. Whether she was scoring one of her game-high 25 points or pulling down one of her 18 rebounds, Beers certainly looked like she was made for the moment in Oklahoma’s 81-58 victory against Florida Gulf Coast.

Beers was especially effective in the fourth quarter with a personal 7-0 run that finally put the game out of reach after the Eagles cut the lead to 10 points. 

“I don’t even know if she was just huge in that run — I think she was huge in that whole game,” coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “I think she just kept us steady the whole game. I thought her leadership was good. I thought her energy was good.”

Oklahoma outscored Florida Gulf Coast 26-10 in the fourth quarter and forced six turnovers. The Eagles scored just 4 points in the final five minutes of the game. Skylar Vann and Payton Verhulst joined Beers in double figures with 24 and 13, respectively.

The Sooners also crashed the boards together, setting a new NCAA Tournament record with 72. One-third of those came on offense where Oklahoma was able to convert 27 second-chance points. 

“I think, going to that fourth quarter especially, we knew we had to pull away and the stretch where it was close … we kept pouring into each other,” Beers said. 

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