The Iowa Women’s basketball team put on a clinic in the second half tonight, outscoring Minnesota 58-15, as they rolled to a 105-49 victory at historic Williams Arena. It is the Hawkeyes fourth straight win and three of them have come on the road.
The Hawkeyes 56-point victory, was their largest win over a Big Ten opponent since they defeated Illinois by 51 back in 1988, while the 105-point offensive explosion lands as sixth most in team history.
“I’m still trying to take it all in,” said Lisa Bluder after the game. “I really can’t find anything that was poor out there. I’m sure I’ll find something when I watch the film, but these kids they played with great energy tonight and they had fun on the floor.”
In the first half, the Gophers were able to stay in it, as the Hawkeyes had a few shots blocked and missed a couple more in the paint. Minnesota pulled as close as 22-17 early in the second quarter, but an 8-0 run by Iowa got the lead back into double figures and the Hawkeyes went into the half with a 47-34 lead.
Then the second half came, and it was an onslaught in favor of Lisa Bluder’s bunch. A 34-7 run to close the third quarter put Iowa up 84-46 and they continued to build the lead in the fourth quarter with an unrelenting transition game.
“The passing and the running of the floor, it was really some pretty basketball and I enjoy watching pretty basketball,” said Lisa Bluder. “I really am happy when they play that way.”
The Hawkeyes would outscore the Gophers 21-3 in the final period, as Minnesota went on a scoring drought for the final 6:18, including shooting just 1/15 from the floor.
Caitlin Clark notched her second triple-double in as many games, putting up 35 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. According to @StatsbyStats on Twitter, she is one of just seven players in NBA, WNBA and DI men’s and women’s basketball to record back-to-back triple-doubles since 2000. The other six are all NBA players.
“Caitlin showed why she is one of the most special and exciting players in America,” said Bluder on the performance of her sophomore point guard.
The good news for Iowa fans? Caitlin Clark was 4/6 from behind the 3pt line, which is an area that she has struggled with for the whole season. Clark thinks this could be a turning point for her long-range game.
“I think all six of the threes I took tonight were good looks. I think that’s the biggest thing for me, just finding ways to get my toes to the line and see some go in…I don’t think I’ve regressed as a shooter or anything like that. I think it’s just a little slump and seeing some go in is really nice.”
Monika Czinano had great performance in front of 50+ visitors that came to watch the Watertown, MN native, as she put up 23 points on 7/12 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Czinano spoke earlier in the week about detaching from the emotions of a homecoming game and focusing on the task at hand. She did just that and on her 22nd birthday no less.
Monika spoke about how special it was to see so many come out and support her saying, “It’s so special to see them and I got to go talk to some of them after the game, but it’s so nice having people who have known me for so long and supported me for so long…They make me who I am today.”
Gabbie Marshall also had a breakout performance, knocking down three 3pt shots en route to 16 points, which is her season high. Marshall also had three assists, four steals and zero turnovers. Kate Martin grabbed nine rebounds and dished four assists, while McKenna Warnock had nine points and five rebounds.
Looking across the box score, it was dominate stat after dominate stat. Iowa outrebounded the Gophers 51-23, holding them to just three offensive rebounds. The Hawkeyes turned it over just nine times, including just three in the second half, while assisting on 23/40 made FGs.
Looking ahead, Lisa Bluder said in the postgame press conference to stay tuned for a possible addition to the schedule to fill the gap left by the Indiana game postponement. The game would be a home contest on Sunday afternoon.
The next currently scheduled contest for the Hawkeyes is a trip to State College to face the Penn State Nittany Lions in a rescheduled game from earlier in January. The game is at 6:00pm and will be streamed on BTN+.
