Iowa Women’s BB Win Big Ten Tourney Opener
Iowa Women Beat Penn State in Opening Game of Big Ten Basketball Tourney
Minneapolis- The Iowa women’s basketball team made a statement to open the Big Ten Women’s Tournament, winning 95-62 over Penn State. The Hawkeyes had five players in double digit scoring figures on a night where National Player of the Year candidate, Caitlin Clark, struggled shooting the three ball. Clark made just 2 of 14 attempts from downtown, but that first one was a big one. As the ball dropped through the net, so too did Steph Curry’s NCAA career record for three pointers. Clark started the night tied with Curry at 162. It took Clark 31 minutes and 21 seconds, but the record final fell early in the fourth quarter.
On a night where Clark scored a mere 24 points, it was Sydney Affolter who stepped up in a big way. Affolter netted 18 points and 9 rebounds, including three 3 pointers. Head coach Lisa Bluder was happy with the all-around involvement of the team. “I thought Taylor went in and played extremely well, whether she’s playing point guard, off guard, small forward.
She was doing anything for us. Syd, I thought, played tremendous. Kylie went in and did some great things, had some great takes at the basket, hit a three for us.” The Hawkeyes got off to a hot start in the opening frame, outscoring the Nittany Lions 31-13. But it was slow second period as Iowa was outscored 11-2 over the first six minutes of the quarter. After the “under five” timeout Iowa went on a 23-3 run to hold a 46-26 lead at the half.
The crowd was definitely a factor in tonight’s game. Clark noted as much. “Yeah, I thought our crowd was tremendous. It gives us a lot of energy, especially on the defensive end.” Saying the crowd was pro-Iowa was likely an understatement. Carver Hawkeye North was in full effect as the Hawkeyes did their job to get the crowd into it early by hitting two early three points by Kate Martin and Sydney Affolter.
The win means the Hawks will play again Saturday afternoon, around 3:30 pm. They will face the winner of Indiana vs. Michigan. At halftime, Indiana was leading the Wolverines 35-21.
