By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The moment you don’t want, the moment that can derail the plans that have taken so long to construct, can come any time.

It happened to Iowa’s women’s basketball team 23 seconds into Sunday’s 91-70 win over Ohio State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Ohio State guard Ava Watson had just scored to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead, but behind Watson was Iowa guard Taylor McCabe, favoring her left leg.

It didn’t take long for two staff members to carry McCabe off the court to have her left knee examined, and it didn’t take long for Iowa coach Jan Jensen and the Hawkeyes to refocus.

“I said, ‘Listen, Taylor’s probably not coming back into this game,’” Jensen said. “‘This is why we’ve been deep.’”

The Hawkeyes’ depth has been tested this season in the guard court — injuries to Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright and Kylie Feuerbach cost each of them three games, but there was help each time.

This injury, though, to their leading 3-point shooter this season feels like it’s going to last for a while. And what the Hawkeyes found out on Sunday was they have the depth to get through it.

Freshman Addie Deal, who came in to replace McCabe after Jensen’s quick speech, scored a season-high 20 points while playing 32 minutes, fulfilling what her coach had promised the team in the seconds after McCabe was hurt.

“I knew,” Jensen said, “Addie would be ready for the call.”

Jensen grew up as a farmer’s daughter, so she knows that moment that can wreck the best crops can happen when the clouds darken.

“Bad weather is a hazard of the job,” she said. “You can do everything right as a farmer, and when a hail storm comes and even if you have crop insurance, it’s just like … whew.

“And I equate that in what we do. It just is heartbreaking with the emotion that’s in this with kids who get hurt.”

It’s why, Jensen said, you start getting everyone ready in June for the storm that might come on a cold January afternoon when you’re in a tie at the top of the Big Ten standings and you’re on a seven-game winning streak and you better have an answer.

Deal has become an answer for the 10th-ranked Hawkeyes, which isn’t a surprise given her reputation coming in as a five-star recruit out of California.

Her arrival hasn’t been microwaved — Deal has simmered in the Hawkeyes’ backcourt depth all season. Four times this season she hasn’t scored a point — in all four of those she played single-digit minutes.

Then came the 18-point game in the 74-66 win over Oregon on January 15, and now there’s this game.

The moment that arrived wasn’t too big for Deal.

“I’d say just business as usual,” she said. “You know, as soon as my number’s called, I’m gonna go out there, give it my all.”

Deal’s reputation was naturally going to lead to some outside grumblings when she wasn’t a big part of the Hawkeyes’ rotation, especially early in the season, and Jensen understood it. The better part, Jensen said, was Deal understood the reasons why she wasn’t playing.

“She’s had to weather so much, because there’s a lot of opinions on when you’re going to play and how we should do it,” Jensen said. “She just had to lock in and be part of the process.

“We’ve watched her, we’ve worked with her, we’ve seen the weaknesses early, and tried to get them to be more of a strength. The game is bigger, faster, stronger, and she doesn’t bat an eye. She’s just ready. She’s always ready.”

“I’m confident in my abilities,” Deal said. “I think my teammates do a great job of just finding each other. I love the way we play — super unselfish. So I think just playing in this offense with these people really helps me do what I need to do.”

Jensen has shared the same confidence, even if it didn’t show up in minutes for Deal.

“I’ve always been very confident in Addie, but I also knew that this game goes big and fast and strong,” Jensen said. “Our culture is our culture, and they pass the baton and they learn and they grow. And if you’re open and you’re willing to just be ready, boy, the process can be really, really great. So Addie has been really … this last month I think the steps have been great.”

McCabe will have an MRI on her left knee Monday.

“Any time that situation happens, you’re probably hoping against hope in certain situations,” Jensen said. “But we don’t know for sure.”

The moment, that storm that popped up on a frigid day in the crucible of the Big Ten race, was still lingering.

“That’s a key cog in our wheel,” Jensen said. “But I believe in the other kids that are going to find ways.”

Photo: Iowa’s Addie Deal (7) drives to the basket in Sunday’s win over Ohio State. (Brian Ray/Iowa Athletic Communications)