After back-to-back standout performances in Iowa’s first two games of the season, freshman point guard Caitlin Clark’s roll was slowed by Wisconsin Saturday, though not significantly.

Clark scored 23 points, propelling the Hawkeyes to an 85-78 victory. The West Des Moines, Iowa, native had to fight and claw for every point as she finished the day just 8-of-23 from the field and 3-of-10 from downtown.

While Clark’s 34.7 percent shooting percentage could be partly attributed to Wisconsin’s defense, head coach Lisa Bluder believes some of Clark’s struggles were self-inflicted.

“I don’t think [the Badgers] did anything special,” Bluder said. “I think Caitlin kind of took herself out of her shooting percentage today. I’ll watch the film to see for sure, but from my perspective, I don’t think Wisconsin did anything special for Caitlin.”

The freshman’s 23 points on 34.7 percent shooting is the lowest of her young collegiate career. In her debut in the Black and Gold against Northern Iowa, Clark shot 10-of-17 from the field, scoring 27 points. She showcased her abilities to an even greater extent in Iowa’s following contest on the road against Drake, pouring in 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting.

On the season, Clark is averaging 26.6 points per game, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. So far, the point guard is Iowa’s leading scorer, and she earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors Nov. 30.

Despite her struggles on Saturday, the Hawkeyes kept the ship afloat all afternoon.

“We have people that can step up when other people are struggling,” sophomore guard Gabbie Marshall said. “Even though [Clark] is really a good leader on this team, and she scores a lot of points, even when she’s struggling, we have [junior center Monika Czinano], [sophomore guard McKenna Warnock], and other people off the bench that can pick us up and keep the energy up. So, that’s really how we stayed in this game and stayed together.”

Czinano – a Preseason All-Big Ten selection – posted 18 points, shooting at a 64.2 percent clip from the floor. Last season, Czinano led the Big Ten in field goal percentage.

Warnock also contributed as Clark struggled, pouring in 12 points on five shot attempts. Marshall had herself a day too, dropping a season-high 15 points in 27 minutes played.

While Clark’s numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, she did step up when her team needed it most. In the fourth quarter, Clark led the Hawkeyes with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting to help put the Badgers away.

Prior to that, Wisconsin had roared back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game at 41 with 7:48 remaining in the fourth period.

According to Czinano, the Hawkeyes’ defense is what enabled them to hang on and win the game.

“When [momentum swings] are happening, it means we need to buckle down on defense a little bit more,” Czinano said. “I think that was definitely a focus for us, definitely making sure we’re getting those stops because if it’s a back-and-forth game, and we’re getting stops on defense, then we’re winning. We keep making plays on offense and we keep going. I really think that we kind of needed to lock down on defense a little bit more. That ultimately was something that allowed us to draw out that lead a little more. That’s something that we definitely talked about at halftime. It was definitely a focus for us just doubling down on defense.”

The Hawkeyes’ next matchup will come at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Iowa State on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.