Starring as No. 3 with 30 is Caitlin Clark. Despite snow, Iowa upsets No. 14 Indiana 84-57 in front of 13,000 fans.
(AP) — IOWA CITY, Iowa More than 13,000 people attended the Iowa Hawkeyes game on Saturday night despite the state’s travel advisories advising against going due to blizzard-like conditions, which provided fuel for Caitlin Clark and the team.
No. 3 Iowa defeated No. 14 Indiana 84-57 to seize sole ownership of the Big Ten Conference lead. Molly Davis added 18 points to Clark’s 30 points and 11 assists in front of a national television audience.
The Hoosiers (14-2, 5-1) lost their 13-game winning run, and Iowa (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten) extended its winning streak to 14 games.
With 31 points per game, Clark leads the country in scoring but didn’t need any late-game heroics similar to the game-winning 3-pointer against the Hoosiers in the regular-season finale of the previous year. Rather, she overcame a sluggish start to record her 52nd double-double of her career.
On a night when the Hawkeyes assumed control of the conference race, Clark completed 10 of 21 from the field, including 6 of 16 3-pointers.
Coach Lisa Bluder of Iowa stated, “I do know, she is practically at her best at the big occasions.” “She is, really,”
According to Clark, it was simply another game.
“You know, I believe I’ve played in enough games in my career where there are amazing highs and lows, and that’s just a part of competitive sport,” Clark remarked. “That is simply basketball.”
After missing her first six 3-point attempts, Clark scored Iowa’s first three points in the second quarter, going up 25-19.
With 4:49 remaining in the second quarter and Iowa leading 28-26, Clark was called for her second foul. She was benched for two and a half minutes. However, Davis filled in for Clark, scoring seven points and dishing out two assists as the Hawkeyes’ lead grew to seven points. When Clark came back to finish the half, the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd went wild when she made a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to give Iowa a 43-37 lead at the half.
Following an 8-second layup by Clark to start the third quarter, Iowa went on an 11-2 run that culminated in a two-possession stretch in which Clark scored a 3-pointer and assisted Gabbie Marshall’s 3-pointer.
In actuality, Bluder stated, “we didn’t make a lot of defensive improvements.” “I am aware that we discussed a few offensive plays we wanted to try, including that one right away. When Clark made the layup, we gained a lot of momentum.
With 15 errors in total, Indiana’s coach Teri Moren claimed her squad made too many mistakes.
“We were still in the game, we were just giving the ball over too often (in the first half),” Moren remarked. “And then it just went out of control after we gave Caitlin that backdoor layup, and we’re down (eight points).”
Just 20 points were scored by Indiana in the second half, with nine coming in the fourth. In the first half, the Hoosiers managed just seven field goals.
According to Bluder, “I thought the second half was fantastic.” “I felt that both offensively and defensively, our guys performed incredibly well together.”
The Hoosiers only made 5 of 20 (35%), while Iowa finished with 15 of 36 (42%).
Moren remarked, “We weren’t very excellent.” “I wish I could explain to you why that occurred. We appeared quite disoriented.
Marshall led Iowa with 12 points, hitting 4 out of 7 three-pointers. Kate Martin finished with 12 rebounds and 10 points.
Indiana’s top player, Mackenzie Holmes, finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Sydney Parrish and Yarden Garzon each had 11 points apiece.
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Indiana: Due to the winter storm that closed most of Iowa, the Hoosiers didn’t get in Iowa City until early on Saturday morning. They kept up with the Hawkeyes in the first half, seemingly unaffected by it. However, Iowa had the upper hand in the third quarter as Indiana was limited to just 27.3% shooting. Regarding the travel problems, Moren declared, “We’re not going to use that as an excuse.” “We didn’t lose because of that.”
Iowa: Before a national television audience, it became just another Clark show. Bluder remarked, “I mean, our fans don’t care that it’s unsafe outside.” “They’re incredible.”
