IOWA CITY — Are you not entertained by Caitlin Clark?
Iowa's all-everything guard shook off a rusty performance on Thursday night to register 35 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and a personal-best seven(!) steals as Iowa thumped Drake, 113-90, in front of a sellout crowd on Sunday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"Don't think eight [steals] is coming, because it's not," Clark said jokingly after the game.
"We played a little bit better than we did on Thursday night, which we're very thankful for," head coach Lisa Bluder said. "I thought we came out and resumed playing Iowa basketball. High assists, low turnovers. I thought our energy level was a lot better out there tonight, more focused."
Sixth-year senior forward Kate Martin added a career-high 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting, and center Sharon Goodman added 15 points before fouling out in 15 minutes off the bench.
The Deep Three
1. That's what a team victory is supposed to look like. Iowa's 65-58 loss to Kansas State on Thursday was jarring for a number of reasons, not the least of which being how disjointed the Hawkeye offense had been. Not only was Clark dreadfully cold from the field on Thursday — 9-32 overall, 2-16 from deep — but the rest of the team only managed 29 shots and never established a rhythm itself.
The Hawkeyes had no such issues against Drake. In fact, Caitlin Clark was the only player to miss a shot in the first quarter, going 4-of-9 from the field while her teammates were 11-for-11 as Iowa set a program record for first-quarter points (37!) and, 10 minutes later, first-half points (64).
"I'm sorry I let them down," Clark said jokingly after the game. "That's really disappointing of me."
"That's okay," Martin responded, with the same facetious concern.
Clark's 35 points were more than enough to put Iowa on the right side of the scoring book, obviously. Still, the fact that Iowa got 31-of-48 shooting from its "supporting cast" is enough to give opponents reasons to respect the other four players on the court.
"A focal point coming into this game was setting people up for good shots," Clark said. "As a point guard, you have to know what people's strengths are, and set them up to be successful in that position. Taylor McCabe comes in and hits two threes that are huge for us in the second quarter, and those were set up by me driving into the paint; she had her feet ready to go. I want to set people up to be successful, whether it's Kate, Sharon [Goodman] or whoever."
Unsurprisingly, Iowa's depth helps its defense as well.
"We have a lot more depth this year than we've had in the past," Bluder said. "Tonight, against a team like Drake, that's really important. They run you around so much, in transition and in their half-court offense, there's so much movement that they'll wear you out. If you can keep bringing people in, that's really good."
2. Kate Martin can do that. Martin's stat line against Drake was the sort of line most forwards only dream of: 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting, 3-for-4 from deep, four rebounds, three assists and a steal — all in only 24 minutes of action.
"Kate played really, really well tonight, and that's something we really need from her," Clark said. "That's something that she's very capable of, and something that we believe that she can give us every single night."
Martin is often deferential in her approach to offense, and she started 0-for-8 shooting from deep on the season before the dam broke against the Bulldogs.
"I just shot it with confidence tonight," said Martin. "All week, my teammates have been building me up. It's not fun to not make a three in the first three or four games. Really it was just confidence, and I was just glad I could step up tonight and knock them down."
Three treys are praise-worthy, but Martin's work on the interior was what opened everything else up against the Drake zone.
"In their matchup zone, corners and short corners were really vulnerable," Martin said. "I was getting the ball down there, and driving to the hole. It worked for me, so I just kept doing it."
Martin, per usual, also made her presence known on the defensive side. Martin drew Drake's star forward Grace Berg as a matchup, and while Berg scored 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, Martin forced five turnovers as Berg only made one of four attempts from behind the arc, limiting Drake's effectiveness from deep.
"She's a really hard worker, and she's really good in the post," Martin said. "I knew that this was going to be a good defensive matchup for me, and I like whenever I have to step up to a challenge like that. She got her buckets and we knew that was going to happen, but my teammates came in and helped as much as possible."
3. Heal up, Hannah. Star forward Hannah Stuelke was limited to 13 minutes of action on Sunday, scoring four points with a rebound, assist and steal; only four of those minutes came after halftime.
Bluder said after the game Stuelke wasn't 100% coming into the game.
"She just has a little bit of a knee that was bothering her a little bit," said Bluder. "We felt like with Drake, the way they run around, you really have to work on defense. With four games in eight days, it was an opportunity to give us some rest."
Stuelke's ability to get and stay on the court will be worth monitoring as the Hawkeyes head down to Ostero, Florida for a three-game tournament — one that just so happens to have Kansas State on the other side of the bracket, setting up a potential rematch if KSU can get past 17th-ranked North Carolina in the semis.
"Kansas State is very good, and we might be playing them again next Sunday," Bluder said. "They're a great team, they're long, very good defensively."
That will require Iowa to get past Purdue-Fort Wayne on Friday, then the winner of Florida Gulf Coast and Delaware on Saturday. If Iowa brings this level of play down to Ostero for the Gulf Coast Showcase, though, that should be no problem.
