Carver Magic! Hawkeyes take down Cyclones

As the clock ticked under one minute in the fourth quarter, a good portion of the 13,802 in attendance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena began to chant.

“Hawkeye State” “Hawkeye State” “Hawkeye State”

While the game was a closely contested, low scoring battle in the first half, a huge third quarter turned the tides in Iowa’s direction and with a 68-55 lead the fans felt comfortable starting the celebration a little early.

“Thank you to our crowd,” said Head Coach Lisa Bluder. “They really came out and they were loud right when we needed them to be loud. Gave us some great defensive energy.”

While it seemed like it was the basketball gods weren’t going to allow the normally exceptional shooting Cyclones to hit a shot, it was really the Iowa defense that stepped up and made life tough for their rivals from Ames.

“We weren’t happy with the way we played defensively (against NC State). I think the most frustrating part about it is we knew we were capable of playing great defense,” said Caitlin Clark. “I think we took it a little more to heart this game…It’s fun getting stops, getting five second calls, it’s fun forcing them into turnovers.”

“We got that on recording, right? It’s fun to play defense,” said Lisa Bluder with a laugh.

The two teams came into the night top 15 in the country in scoring offense, but the first half resembled something like if you took the recent Cy-Hawk football game and made it a basketball game. A rock fight.

The Cyclones were just 4/18 from the floor in the opening quarter, but Iowa wasn’t much better at 5/18. The second quarter was much of the same as the teams combined to shoot 20/65 (30.7%) for the entire half, but Iowa State was able to go into the locker room with a 28-23 lead.

“Most people thought that would be the score in the first quarter,” said Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly. “I think both teams were probably a little bit uptight. It’s a big game and a big moment. I told our kids, we’re in the game after not playing great.”

“I thought our defense was really good. We held Iowa State to 28 points, and we just said hey, the shots are going to fall. We felt like we were getting good shots,” said Bluder.

Something flipped after halftime. All the sudden, the Hawkeyes found their shooting touch, while Iowa State was left still searching for theirs. McKenna Warnock and Caitlin Clark each hit a three-pointer to chop the Cyclones lead down to 32-31, but a Stephanie Soares second chance bucket quieted the crowd and put ISU up 34-31.

That’s when the switch got flipped and the Hawkeyes kicked things into high gear. Caitlin Clark buried a deep three to give Iowa a 36-34 lead. On the next possession, Addison O’Grady hit a short corner jumper. Then off an ISU miss, Kate Martin drove to the basket and got a beautiful reverse layup to fall. The Cyclones took a timeout with Iowa up 40-34.

The run continued late in the quarter with Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin each knocking down a three pointer. As the finals seconds of the quarter ticked down, a missed putback by Kate Martin bounced right to Addison O’Grady for a wide-open layup. Everything was going the Hawkeyes way and that final basket summed things up. Iowa ended the quarter with a 19-2 run, and they took a 50-36 lead into the fourth.

Iowa State shot just 4/12 in the third quarter, while the Hawkeyes were 10/17, including 5/7 from behind the three-point line.

Iowa ballooned the lead to 60-44 with 6:25 to play when Molly Davis found Gabbie Marshall wide open in the corner. She knocked down the Hawkeyes seventh three-point make of the half and from that point on, the lead never got below 10. Iowa cruised to a 70-57 victory.

“When the ball goes in the basket press conferences are a little bit easier, historically,” said Bill Fennelly. “When it doesn’t, you take it and give credit to the other team. They were fantastic defensively.”

In the Iowa press conference, it was all smiles and laughs. More than that, they completed their second step in the path towards a “state title”.

“When you’re playing an in-state rival, it means a little more. We always talk about being state champs,” said Caitlin Clark. “We want to beat the three in-state schools…We had won five straight (against ISU) and we went to Ames and lost last year. We wanted to start the streak again.”

While 40+ point performances and three-pointers from North Liberty are fun and get the attention of people across the country, Caitlin Clark may be even more dangerous when her stat lines include less points, efficient shooting and more assists. Tonight, she shook off a 2/14 start to finish with 19 points on 7/20 shooting, as well as eight rebounds and eight assists. She missed just one shot in the second half.

“I felt like I got to good spots, got some good shots (in the first half), sometimes that’s just how the game of basketball goes,” said Clark. “It just shows how I’ve matured over the past two years. In the past that would completely take me out of my game…We’re hard to beat when I do that and then also my teammates are scoring the way they are. To have eight, ten assists, that means your teammates are making buckets and that’s huge for us.”

“When you play defense like that, and then you execute on offense with that many weapons, it’s going to be hard to beat.”

Kate Martin stepped up in the second half and finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while Monika Czinano finished with a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds. She also held Stephanie Soares to ten points on 4/9 shooting. Monika said she feels like she has improved her defense and the tough assignments early this season have been a big key.

“I’ve gotten to play against a lot of really good posts (early in the year), and I’ve been privileged to do that,” said Czinano. “I can tell it’s helped me. I feel like I’m better at guarding post drives. I just feel a little more agile on my feet.”

For the Cyclones, Ashley Joens and Emily Ryan each had 15 points, while Lexi Donarski and Stephanie Soares each had ten points. The team finished the night shooting 20/55 (36.4%), including 9/27 (33.3%) from behind the arc.

Iowa finished with less turnovers and grabbed a higher percentage of offensive and defensive rebounds. Two areas that hurt them in last year’s loss in Ames.

Up next for the Hawkeyes, it’s back to Big Ten play, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers come to Iowa City on Saturday night. The Gophers are led by true freshman guard Mara Braun and come into the game with a 5-4 record. Tip off is set for 8:00pm and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.