By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — It was 5 minutes and 44 seconds that Jan Jensen thinks can last the rest of the season.

That was the time it took for Iowa’s women’s basketball team to break open a close game and finish an 86-76 win over Nebraska on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The 14th-ranked Hawkeyes (12-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) had just allowed a 3-point play by Nebraska’s Emily Fisher with 5:44 remaining in the fourth quarter that tied the game at 70. Iowa then went on a 14-1 run, making crucial shots on offense while silencing the No. 20 Huskers (12-2, 1-2) on the other end of the court.

“I think,” said Jensen, the Hawkeyes’ second-year head coach, “we grew up a little bit today.”

What Jensen liked was how the Hawkeyes took control. There were big plays — Taylor McCabe’s 3-pointer gave Iowa a 74-70 lead with 4:32 to play, then Taylor Stremlow had a steal and layup 58 seconds later — while coming together on defense to hold the Huskers to just one field goal in that final 5:44, and that was a Britt Prince layup with 29 seconds left when all that was left to do was run out the clock.

“I think that resolve in our mind, I’d like to think that that’s going to help keep propelling us forward,” Jensen said.

Guard Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright, who had a career-high 24 points to lead the Hawkeyes, said the final run was all about making plays.

“The steals we got — I know (Stremlow) got a big steal, I got a steal — it comes down to that,” she said. “It’s like a dog fight. Whoever gets the most steals and rebounds, that’s who’s going to win.”

Iowa’s defense made the difference, really, throughout the entire second half. Nebraska was held to just 9-of-25 shooting in the second half after making 20 of its 33 shots in the first half.

“We changed a couple of things (defensively),” said senior forward Hannah Stuelke, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. “But we definitely ramped up the intensity.”

Jensen is using all of her options these days — the Hawkeyes have 10 players available and every one of them played in this game.

“I thought it was going to take every bit of what we had, and then some,” Jensen said.

Her trust in Stremlow to replace injured guard Kylie Feuerbach in the lineup continues to pay — Stremlow had a career-high eight assists to go with her eight points. And she doesn’t lose confidence in players — freshman Journey Houston received a scolding for two hurried 3-pointers in the first half, but Houston was in the game in those closing moments and delivered two key free throws.

“I just thought it was neat to see them have big plays at big times,” Jensen said. “Growth steps. You have to keep reminding the youth, they’re just so used to playing 32 minutes in high school, they sometimes need to be reminded that the eight minutes you played in this game were important, the one stat you had swung this game. It’s what I keep reminding my young ones, because they’re really just beginning.”

The Hawkeyes continue to be the right mix of old and young — sophomore Ava Heiden had 18 points and seven rebounds to go with the production of Stuelke — as well as the new.

Wright, in her first year with the Hawkeyes after transferring from Georgia Tech, played all but 38 seconds in her most efficient performance of the season.

Wright missed three games in late November and early December while recovering from an injury suffered in a 57-52 win over Baylor on November 20. She has played 34 minutes or more in four of Iowa’s last five games, and has averaged 18.6 points in the last three games.

“She was really coming, and we had that setback,” Jensen said. “But I think today we kind of saw what she is able to really provide when we’re asking her to play that many minutes.

“She is just fun. She’s explosive, she’s dynamic. She’s shifty. So she really brings a lot, and I think there’s a lot more opportunity for growth, though, for her.”

“I would say my team gives me a lot of confidence, and also they put a lot of trust in me,” Wright said. “So I just know, whatever I do, they’re going to have my back, whether it’s right or wrong.”

“Always right,” Stuelke added with a laugh. “Always right.”

Photo: Iowa guard Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright drives through Nebraska’s defense in Thursday’s game. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)