No. 9 Iowa women’s basketball started the 2021-22 season with a victory as it took down New Hampshire, 93-50.

Sophomore point guard Caitlin Clark, a preseason first-team All-American, finished the game with 26 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Clark shot 60 percent from the field.

Senior center Monika Czinano tallied 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the post Tuesday night. 

Freshman center Addison O’Grady, Czinano’s backup, built off her successful 17-point debut in Iowa’s exhibition against Truman State. O’Grady scored eight points in 11 minutes and grabbed four rebounds.

“Starting 1-0 is always a good feeling,” head coach Lisa Bludder said.”I felt like we came out strong. We shot the ball well. I was impressed with our free throw shooting, 27 out of 28. We did turn the ball over too many times and that’s something we need to work on.”

Though the Hawkeyes won handily, their turnover problems from 2020-21 followed them into their season-opener. Iowa finished with 19 turnovers in the contest.

The Hawkeyes also got outrebounded offensively, 12-10, by New Hampshire.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa started the season 1-0 and displayed its offensive prowess throughout the night.

Three of Iowa’s five starters, including Clark, finished in double digits. Junior forward McKenna Warnock finished with 12 points, while Czinano finished with 14. 

Iowa also saw strong performances from its bench players — especially senior guard Tomi Taiwo and sophomore guard Kylie Feuerbach. Taiwo finished with 10 points and Feuerbach scored five points while dishing out six assists.

FREE THROW GOLD

Iowa went 27-of-28 from the free throw line Tuesday night, as Warnock was the only Hawkeye to miss a free throw attempt. Warnock went 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. Clark went 11-of-11 from the line.

“They’re free points, you got to make them,” Clark said. “And when you’re in big game situations those matter a lot. So, it’s something we take pride in every day. But it’s really not surprising because we shoot them every day in practice, and we chart those. We’re always over 90 percent.”

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes will have two days to prepare for Samford on Thursday.

The Bulldogs had a 14-11 overall record in the 2020-21 season, and finished as the Southern Conference regular season champions. 

Junior guard Andrea Cournoyer was the conference’s leading scorer last season, averaging 18.4 points per game. 

Samford also returns its leading rebounder from 2020-21 — junior forward Annie Ramil.The junior averaged a conference high 8.2 rebounds a game last season.

Iowa and Samford will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be streamed on BTN+.