Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Sports

Despite Northwestern's recent return to the win column, the battle between the first- and last-place teams in the Big Ten transpired as expected Thursday.

Iowa (19-9, 12-5 Big Ten) handily defeated the Wildcats 68-42 on senior night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes' win kept them tied at the top of the conference with Ohio State, while NU (5-24, 1-16) remains in last place by three games.

The Cats opened Thursday's contest floundering and found themselves in an early hole. Iowa's senior night seemed to give the Hawkeyes the same energy that NU benefited from in its 70-58 win over Penn State on Feb. 24.

"We didn't come out with a lot of intensity tonight," coach Beth Combs said. "Traveling in the road in the Big Ten, especially to Iowa, and having it be senior night, you have to bring your 'A' game. And we didn't bring that tonight."

NU answered with an 8-5 run of its own to cut the Hawkeyes' lead to three points with 13 minutes left in the first half.

NU's resurgence was powered by layups from guards Nadia Bibbs and Jenny Eckhart and a pair of jumpers from freshman center Amy Jaeschke.

Jaeschke finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season.

The Cats' comeback was ultimately cut short as the Hawkeyes responded with a 13-0 run over 5:30 in the middle of the first half that gave Iowa a 26-10 advantage.

Iowa's surge was devastating to the Cats, who would trail by at least 12 points for the remainder of the game. Iowa went on another critical run with six minutes left in the period, a 9-0 spurt that gave them a 35-17 lead going into halftime.

NU played more consistently with the Hawkeyes in the second half but was not able to rebound from its first-half performance.

NU's last chance for another Big Ten victory comes Sunday at Ohio State.

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