Thursday’s playing time temperature outside Williams Arena was 11 degrees.

In summary, the same number as Iowa’s leadership is halfway through the first quarter against a Gopher Women’s Basketball squad that started the match with its lowest point in total for a quarter this season.

Minnesota warmed up enough to bind the match during the fourth quarter before a late Iowa increase resulted in a 68-60 Hawkeye’s victory. Iowa has won 11 straight in the series.

Minnesota (18-6, 6-6) accumulated its second lowest point in total of the season and topped only the 53 on top ranked UCLA Sunday. The defense was solid for more than three quarters of the game, but Gophers fell for the fourth time in five matches and fifth at seven.

Tori McKinney led Minnesota with 16 points, Annika Stewart got 14 and Amaya Battle added 12. Mallory Heyer recorded her best double double with 10 points and 10 returns. After scoring in double numbers in eight of his last nine matches, Grace Grocholski had only four points.

The Minnesota banded game 51-51 with 4:29 to play, but a 13-5 Iowa run put the game a lot to the delight of the loud faithful that wears black and yellow and chanting “Let’s go hawks” in the last frame.

Trees on consecutive possessions of Sydney Affolter and Tayler McCabe, the latter with 49 seconds left, Iowa (16-7, 6-6) set up 64-56. Down by 11 by 3 minutes to play during the third quarter, Minnesota scored six of the quarter’s last seven points, including a steal and arrangement by McKinney to get within six points.

But that start?

Minnesota was down 18-7 after 10 minutes, which made only three of 12 shots, including 1-for-3 from Deep. Gophers walked more than 5 minutes without points and committed six sales. Heyer’s 3 got Minnesota within seven early in the second quarter, but Iowa counteracted with six straight points during a 4-plus minute of Gopher Point drought. Affolter’s layout with 1.6 seconds left, Hawkeyes had up 32-21 in the event of a break.