No. 12 Iowa 93, Northwestern 64

Good teams need to play bad opposition. Early in the season, it gives coaches an opportunity to see their full roster in game action and to work on things like rotations, offensive sets, and defenses. Later in the year, playing bad teams gives good teams a bit of a mental break from grueling games against the conference’s best teams. It allows them to work through any issues they’ve been having.

But games against bad teams are also a delicate balance. Losses to bad teams can kill your NCAA Tournament resume. They can demoralize players and potentially derail an otherwise promising season.

To gain the benefits of playing a weaker opponent, good teams have to stay focused. They have to play well early to build a lead they can feel comfortable with. If they don’t, doubts start creeping in. The weaker team starts to believe they can pull an upset.

Northwestern is a good example of a weaker team. At 6-9 overall and 0-5 in the Big Ten, the Wildcats certainly don’t seem intimidating. Most would look at Iowa’s home matchup with Northwestern and conclude that it should be an easy night for Iowa.

But Northwestern is also a team that has given Iowa trouble recently, and has played Michigan and Illinois closer than you would expect this season.

Would Iowa stay focused early and earn the benefits of a blowout victory, or would Northwestern keep things too close for comfort?

Iowa started the game poorly on the defensive end. The Hawks weren’t closing out to shooters, weren’t crashing the boards, and just looked lethargic in general. Northwestern used a quick start to jump out to an 8-3 lead.

But then Caitlin Clark and the Iowa offense got going. Iowa took its first lead at 12-10 and kept going from there. All told, Iowa led 22-16 after one. Clark had 11 points on 3/4 shooting from three-point range.

Iowa’s offense kept rolling early in the second quarter, and the Hawkeye lead ballooned to 38-22. But just as Iowa looked to have the game in hand, its fast play caused issues. Northwestern players always hunt steals, no matter where they are on the court. On a couple plays after a made shot or rebound, Iowa got the ball and looked to find a quick outlet pass to push the ball in transition. Instead, a Northwestern player was lurking for a quick steal and basket. Those turnovers shrunk Iowa’s lead to 40-30, and had Northwestern back in the game.

Fortunately for Iowa, it was able to settle the game down again. The Hawks stopped turning the ball over, and did better defensively. Once the turnovers stopped, so did Northwestern’s offense, and Iowa took a 47-32 lead to halftime.

Iowa consistently held the advantage in the third quarter, but didn’t really extend its lead until the last couple minutes when the Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter. All told, Iowa led 72-47 heading to the fourth quarter. Iowa got its bench involved early and often in the fourth quarter and ultimately won 93-64.

Clark led Iowa with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 rebounds. Nationally, Clark takes some heat for how often she shoots and some of the shots she takes. People question if her game will translate well to the WNBA or internationally because of her shot selection. If you want to see what Clark can do when she doesn’t need to shoot, watch the middle of this game’s fourth quarter. Clark was in the game that late trying to secure her 10th rebound for a triple-double. She was aware of the risk to herself, obviously, and wasn’t really trying to drive the ball or find a shot. Instead, she looked to setup her teammates and had some highlight reel passes. I don’t think there are more than 5-10 women in the world who could’ve executed every one of the passes Clark made in the fourth quarter.

Monika Czinano was steady as ever, scoring 18 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbing 6 rebounds. McKenna Warnock also did well, scoring 10 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Hannah Stuelke was the last Hawkeye in double-figures, scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 14 minutes. A box score for the game is here.

It’s hard to overstate how impressive Hannah Stuelke has been this season. Against Purdue, she had a double-double in 11 minutes. Tonight, she was close to a 20 and 10 game in just 14 minutes. At her best, she can completely take over a game with her athleticism.

Stuelke’s role has steadily increased as the season has gone on. Early on, she was mostly Iowa’s backup 4, and didn’t play much in some of Iowa’s bigger non-conference games. In Big Ten play, she served as both the backup 4 and backup 5 and has played approximately 10 minutes per game. At this point, I think the coaches need to find a way to get Stuelke 15-20 minutes per game.

Iowa has been a poor offensive rebounding team for the past two and a half seasons. Against elite teams, Iowa has an athleticism gap at almost every position. Stuelke helps improve both of those areas. She is a very good offensive rebounder, and she is more athletic than the vast majority of 4s and 5s she will play.

Stuelke still has some areas to work on, of course. Offensively, she dribbles herself into trouble too often and isn’t much of a shooting threat. Defensively, she still needs to work on her positioning and needs to use her athleticism to become a rim protector.

But the only way Stuelke will improve many of her flaws is by gaining experience in game action. Playing Stuelke more could lead to short-term headaches. It might even stretch her conditioning some since she isn’t used to playing a huge role so far. But come March, expanding Stuelke’s role could be the difference between Iowa advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament or another early exit.

People have praised Northwestern’s Blizzard defense for years. The Blizzard, in short summary, is an aggressive 1-1-3 trapping zone meant to cause turnovers and chaos. I’ve been impressed with Northwestern’s defense for years now, but I don’t think the Blizzard defense itself is the reason for Northwestern’s success.

Sure, the Blizzard can cause chaos for its opponents, but it also leaves glaring openings. Too often tonight and in years past, Iowa has had easy entry passes to Monika Czinano because the Blizzard didn’t have anyone to help the defender fronting Czinano. Too often with the Blizzard, Iowa’s guards—including Caitlin Clark of all players—are wide open with time to set and shoot.

I think the real reason Northwestern’s defense has caused problems for years is the mentality it creates in its players. As mentioned in the recap, Northwestern players constantly look for steals. Instead of moping after a turnover, they look to steal the ball right back. When the other team gets a rebound, they look to steal the outlet pass. That mentality earns Northwestern plenty of stops defensively, and also earns it a fair share of easy baskets.

Even better, the mentality is something Iowa can replicate. To an extent Iowa already does some of this. Gabbie Marshall usually gets a steal every couple games by lurking near the inbounds pass after a made basket. Clark has gotten better at jumping passing lanes once or twice a game. Iowa has had some success in having wing defenders swarm down on posts when they get the ball on the low block.

Hopefully in future seasons Iowa can teach its players to look for more steals in certain situations. A couple extra turnovers forced per game would go a long way in turning close losses into close wins and increasing Iowa’s overall defensive efficiency.

#12 Iowa (now 13-4 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) returns to action at home this Saturday, January 14th at 11:31 AM CT against Penn State. The game will be televised on Big Ten Network.