The Iowa women kept things rolling with their second win in three days, defeating Samford 91-54 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes shot 61% in the first half and jumped out to a 47-22 halftime advantage.

Monika Czinano got off to a hot start scoring six early points to help the Hawks out to a 9-2 advantage and led the team in scoring for the game with 20.

“I thought the flow started really good right off the jump…I was just running, head down, trying to post up, seal and they were having really good passes inside, and I was lucky enough to convert them,” said Czinano.

Caitlin Clark had 15 first half points on 6/10 shooting and finished with 19, but the impressive take from this game was the balance from everyone else that saw the floor. Every player that played more than 10 minutes scored a basket, grabbed a rebound and had an assist, which just shows the depth this team has.

“I just think we have so many weapons on this team and it gives you a lot of comfort as a coach...It bodes well for the length of the season because the season does get long…We have to be able to spread those minutes out,” said Coach Bluder on the spread out contribution.

Kate Martin put together a solid six point, five assist and three rebound night, while McKenna Warnock added eight points and six rebounds.

The offensive performance continued past that with the team shooting nearly 60% for the game, including an impressive 52 points in the paint. They shared the wealth as a team, assisting on 64.8% of made baskets.

On the defensive side, Samford PG Andrea Cournoyer knocked down five threes and led with 15 points, but the Iowa defense held everyone else at bay, forcing 24 Bulldog turnovers. Coach Bluder and Caitlin Clark talked about the increased emphasis on defense and mentioned more aggressiveness from them this season.

“I think we are being more active. I think we are applying more pressure to the ball. I think we are just more aware of how important defense is and we’re putting more heart into it,” said Coach Bluder.

Caitlin added saying, “I definitely think we were more active. I thought, especially in that first half we had really good defensive intensity.”

The competition ramps up another step on Sunday with a trip to Cedar Falls to take on a very talented Northern Iowa Panthers squad that made the WNIT last season. UNI beat the Hawkeyes 88-66 back in 2019 at the McLeod Center.

Both the coaches and the players view Northern Iowa as a big in-state rivalry on the same level as Iowa State, while the blowout loss in 2019 just adds to the setup of Sunday’s game.