After a massive win in Ames on Wednesday, the Hawkeyes continued their momentum with a dominant 102-50 victory over North Carolina Central on Saturday. 

Twelve Hawkeyes were featured on the stat sheet for a team total 69.8 shooting percentage from the floor.

“I’m really pleased with our performance today,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “This was sandwiched between two in-state rivalry games and finals week and it’s very easy to lose your focus in those two situations, and we didn’t.”

It was an incredible first half performance on the offensive side of things, with Iowa shooting 80 percent from the floor and 75 percent from 3-point range en route to a 55-point half.

Although North Carolina Central got out to a small lead to begin the game, Iowa picked up the pace and raced ahead shortly after. Kathleen Doyle fueled a 10-0 run to make it a nine point lead for Iowa just five minutes into the contest. The Hawkeyes continued to attack from all angles offensively, knocking down 3-pointers and getting points in the paint when needed.

The momentum continued into the second half, with everyone contributing to the attack. Gabbie Marshall knocked down several 3-pointers, Amanda Ollinger added several points of her own and Makenzie Meyer continued to splash shots. Iowa finished with an 18-4 run to take a commanding 55-18 lead at the half, its largest this season. 

Iowa continued to work hard defensively throughout the half, holding the Eagles to just 20 percent from the floor on 34 shots. 

Iowa kept its starters in at the start of the second half as the team continued to run away with it. Alexis Sevillian and Makenzie Meyer both hit early 3-pointers before Bluder gave the bench players more minutes.

The Meyer sisters got to share a great moment in the third quarter, when younger sibling Megan assisted Makenzie with 48 seconds left. 

“It’s just a moment that we’ve been looking forward to for a while and we haven’t got that opportunity since high school, so it was really cool and we both got big smiles on our faces,” Makenzie Meyer said. 

With the entire second-string in the last five minutes of the game, the Hawkeyes enjoyed their time out on the court. Gabbie Marshall kept an extremely fast pace going, with freshman Megan Meyer tallying six points and Logan Cook getting three in the closing moments, helping Iowa reach 100 points. 

“I love the intensity we kept throughout that game,” Bluder said. “I’m very excited for our bench players to be able to go out there and get that hundred points.”

Iowa looked good in virtually every statistic today, with the team out rebounding North Carolina Central by 15, hitting 32 assists and scoring 22 points on the fast break. 

Senior Kathleen Doyle is a major part of the continually high number of assists, adding another nine on Saturday to move up to second all-time in Iowa history.

“It’s fun setting my teammates up, something I take pride in,” Doyle said. 

After finals week, the Hawkeyes take on another in-state rival Drake. The week presents a unique task for Bluder and the coaching staff to balance academics and athletics.

“Finals is the priority right now,” Bluder said. “Giving them a couple of days off is important, but we’ll have some extra practices but with the situation when you’re in finals, you don’t want to overload them with too much information.”

The Dec. 21 game against Drake tips off at 6 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.