Iowa beat all the numbers that the UCF defense had posted to this point of the season en route to a 69-61 victory over the Knights at Carver this evening. Coming into the contest, former Iowa women’s basketball player Kate Abrahamson-Henderson and current head coach of UCF had her team playing some of the best defense in the entire country.

UCF was allowing 45.9 ppg, 34.4% FG and 28.5% from behind the 3pt line, but the Hawkeyes were able to beat all of those numbers.

“I’m pleased with our effort today…I thought we had a first and third quarter that were really good…We got the ball inside a lot more in that third quarter for high percentage shots,” said Lisa Bluder. “This is a team that holds people to 45 and we score 69 on them.”

Iowa turned the ball over six times in the first six minutes of the game, but when they didn’t turn it over, they were able to convert when they got shots up. Caitlin Clark and Kylie Feuerbach each hit a 3pt shot to give Iowa a 17-13 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

“It was really bad to begin the game, but then you settle down. You figure their defense out a little bit more…It’s really hard to emulate that defense, even though they watch it on film, even with our practice squad trying to do it,” said Lisa Bluder.

The Hawkeyes were able to force some missed shots and held the Knights to just five points over nearly nine minutes of play, but UCF’s tenacious defense was able to force turnovers and keep the game within striking distance through the second quarter.

Ahna Burney would hit a trio of 3pt shots late in the first half and helped UCF get a 31-29 lead. However, a Caitlin Clark buzzer beating jump shot would tie the game at 31 going into the half.

The Hawkeyes came out strong in the second half and were paced by Monika Czinano who had eight points in the third quarter. Czinano scored 19 points on the day on an efficient 8/11 shooting. The big key was that they took care of the ball and rebounded better, which led to the 25-12 advantage for the period.

“The high post was open and whenever we got it to the high post, I think we were super successful,” said Caitlin Clark.

Monika Czinano added her thoughts on the third quarter run saying, “Once we got it into the high post, like Caitlin was saying, the world kind of opened up for us. My teammates were doing a great job of finding the open side and leading me to an open layup.”

The Knights threatened to make it a game early in the fourth quarter, when a Tay Sanders jump shot cut the Iowa lead to 58-53. However, McKenna Warnock had an answer to the Sanders make with a 3pt shot to get the lead back up to eight and it ultimately helped put an end to any chance of a UCF rally.

“It was just an open shot, and someone found me. It was just there, so let it fly,” said Warnock her big shot.

Warnock finished with 13 points, including a pair of three pointers, while she led the team with seven assists. UCF got notable performances from Tay Sanders, who led with 20 points and Diamond Battles, who contributed 12 points in the losing effort.

The Knights are a tournament caliber team and Lisa Bluder was asked about how this game can come in handy down the stretch.

“We want to approach every single game as if it’s the most important game and like it’s an NCAA type of game because if you don’t, all the sudden it’s a shock once you get there.”

Iowa will get plenty of tournament level opponents in Big Ten play to help them prepare for March.

Lisa Bluder had the quote of the night, as the Hawkeyes welcomed back former Iowa WBB player Katie Abrahamson-Henderson to coach UCF saying, “We love our Hawkeyes, we love our alums, but we also like to send them home with an L.”

The stat of the night comes courtesy of Caitlin Clark, who finished the game with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Hawkeyes are 12-1 when Clark notches a double-double or better.

The Iowa women will take the floor again on Tuesday against a sneaky good IUPUI squad at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Jaguars have struggled to get consistency to their season, much like the Hawkeyes, as they have had four games canceled due to Covid issues. The game will be at 2:00pm on BTN+.