Iowa last faced Michigan on a magical night in Carver Hawkeye Arena. On that night a full house witnessed history as Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s scoring record. The Hawkeyes looked for the same kind of magic and excited five hours north in Minneapolis. What they found was another win my nearly 30 points and a 1,000 point scorer…for the season.
The Wolverines made a statement in the first quarter. After falling behind 11-6 they came back, nailing three after three to take a 25-17 lead with 1:32 remaining in the quarter. A Taylor Woodson travel gave the ball back to Iowa, who started a late quarter moment swing with a Hannah Stuelke lay in and a Gabbie Marshall trey to close the gap to 25-22 at the end of the first quarter. They didn’t take their foot off the gas. Clark hit a three, made a steal, and laid in another basket in the next 2:15 in game time and the Hawks took a 33-28, forcing Michigan to take a timeout as the overwhelmingly pro-Hawkeye crowd roared to life. Out of the time Iowa extended the lead to 42-30 before a Michigan three quieted the crowd, but not much. Iowa forced a miss and run out on the other end and by the time the half ended Iowa had built a 51-42 lead.
Iowa came out the locker with the same heat. After outscoring Michigan 29-17 in the second quarter the Hawks turned up the heat when they won the third quarter 21-13 to take a 72-55 lead into the final frame. The Hawks spread their scoring around for the second day in a row. They got double digit figures from four different players, including a 12 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebound effort from Syndey Affolter. Addison O’Grady nearly made her way into double figures, scoring 8 points on a 4-4 effort.
Caitlin Clark secured a double double by the time the game reached the mid-point of the second quarter with 12 points and 10 assist. She hit one of her patented logo three’s that might as well have been shot from home plate at Target Field. Clark also surpassed 1,000 points for this season, the second time she’s done that, and the only NCAA D-1 basketball players to ever do so. She also took over the lead for all-time points scored in the Big Ten Tournament, surpassing Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell.
The Hawkeyes will Nebraska in the finals on Sunday. The Hawkeyes split their regular season games winning at home 92-73 on January 27th, and falling Nebraska 79-82 in Lincoln. Tip off is at 11:00 am.
