IOWA CITY — Megan Gustafson managed a shy smile and a couple of waves as she was cheered leaving the court after doing a post-game TV interview.
The Iowa junior center had spent the day being in a constant sandwich of Wolverines, yet put up more brilliant numbers.
So did the rest of the 23rd-ranked Hawkeyes in the 82-72 win over No. 21 Michigan at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa moved to 14-1 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are survivors of injuries to key players Tania Davis (knee, out for season) and Makenzie Meyer (broken hand, out indefinitely) and a nonconference schedule full of challenges, and they just keep going.
"Grit," said senior forward Carly Mohns, herself a survivor of a few knee surgeries in her career and now a vital part of Iowa's short bench.
That toughness starts with Gustafson, who continues to put up All-American digits despite being in a constant battle with physical double-teams that are designed to perplex, but always seem to fail.
Gustafson had 27 points and 11 rebounds — her 14th double-double of the season — while taking just nine shots. She hit eight of those, but went 11-of-11 in free throws.
Bluder mentioned the nine shots, which drew a surprised reaction from point guard Kathleen Doyle, who was sitting next to her.
"She gets 27 points and only took nine shots? How is that physically possible?" Bluder said.
Gustafson has basically feasted on the double-teams. She is so strong that if she doesn't make the shot, she gets fouled, and she's an 82 percent free-throw shooter this season.
"I don't like to miss free throws," Gustafson said. "It's really important to be able to finish there."
Bluder remembered how, after shooting 60 percent from the line as a freshman, Gustafson worked all summer on her free throws.
"What was the number?" Bluder said.
"Fifty to a hundred every day," Gustafson said.
Bluder nodded with approval.
"When she's got a weakness, she'll fix it," Bluder said. "That's the type of kid Megan is."
She was a big reason that Michigan center Hallie Thome, who came in averaging 16.6 points per game but scored just seven, fouled out, along with forward Jillian Dunston.
"She had a couple of inches on me," Gustafson said of Thome. "I knew I had my work cut out for me."
But even with the injuries, Gustafson has offensive help.
Doyle, back in the familiar role of starting point guard that she had when Davis got hurt last season, scored a career-high 23 points.
"I thought Doyle led us today," Bluder said.
Alexis Sevillian had 10 points — she hit a banked 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer in the second quarter in the 7-0 Iowa run to start the quarter.
Mohns had nine on 4-of-4 shooting. Her 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the third quarter put Iowa up, 46-43, and the Hawkeyes wouldn't trail again.
"I was open and I had the ball," said Mohns, whose nickname is "Beef."
"She knocks them down in practice all of the time," Doyle said.
Katelynn Flaherty led Michigan (12-3, 1-1) with 24 points.
The Hawkeyes go on a two-game road trip, starting with Thursday's game at No. 15 Maryland.
Iowa is leaving a day early to do some sightseeing in Washington, D.C.
Someone asked in the press conference what the Hawkeyes were looking forward to the most on the trip.
"Winning, pretty much," Doyle said.
MICHIGAN (12-3, 1-1)
Jillian Dunston 3-6 0-0 6, Hailey Brown 1-5 1-2 3, Hallie Thome 3-7 1-1 7, Katelynn Flaherty 8-19 4-6 24, Nicole Munger 3-4 0-0 8, Kayla Robbins 3-6 5-6 11, Akienreh Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Deja Church 4-13 2-2 11. Totals: 26-62 13-17 72.
IOWA (14-1, 2-0)
Chase Coley 3-4 3-6 9, Amanda Ollinger 0-4 0-0 0, Megan Gustafson 8-9 11-11 27, Alexis Sevillian 3-13 2-2 10, Kathleen Doyle 9-17 3-6 23, Hannah Stewart 2-7 0-0 4, Zion Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Carly Mohns 4-4 0-0 9. Totals: 29-58 19-25 82.
Michigan;14;16;17;25;—;72
Iowa;18;16;22;26;—82
Total fouls: Michigan 19, Iowa 13. Fouled out: Dunston, Thome. 3-point goals: Michigan 7-20 (Flaherty 4-12, Munger 2-2, Church 1-4, Brown 0-1, Johnson 0-1), Iowa 5-20 (Doyle 2-6, Sevillian 2-10, Mohns 1-1, Ollinger 0-3). Rebounds: Michigan 30 (Thome 7), Iowa 38 (Gustafson 11). Assists: Michigan 9 (Dunston 4), Iowa 19 (Doyle 9). Blocks: Michigan 3 (Thome 2), Iowa 10 (Gustafson 6). Turnovers: Michigan 15, Iowa 16. Attendance: 6,928.