As most probably expected, the Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 74-57 in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Ross over at SB Nation's Iowa site Black Heart Gold Pants notes that the loss also fits a pattern of understandable disappointment in Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder's tenure.
The loss ends Iowa's season, dropping them to 21-13 overall. While the loss was disappointing (although not unexpected), the season as a whole fits comfortably into the pattern Bluder has established at Iowa: win around 20 games, make the NCAA Tournament, lose in R1 or R2. Iowa has made the NCAA Tournament in 10 of Bluder's 13 seasons at Iowa and in fact only once (2006-07) has a Bluder-coached Iowa team failed to make the postseason at all. She's been remarkably consistent at Iowa and considering all the injuries she's had to overcome (Angry Iowa Women's Basketball Hating God is real and she is vengeful), that's a very impressive and commendable accomplishment.
He goes on to note that two seeding issues have also haunted Iowa: they usually earn an 8 or 9 seed and their two higher seeded teams were victimized by being sent to play on a lower seed's home court.
For more on the game, check out the rest of BHGP's recap. For more on the tournament, visit our NCAA section.