Iowa women’s basketball officially clinched a double-bye in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament with a victory over Rutgers on Thursday night.

The Hawkeyes took down the Scarlet Knights, 87-78, at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, to move to 13-4 in conference play. Iowa is now 19-7 overall.

Rutgers dropped to 9-19 overall and 2-14 in conference play.

“We were really focused on going 1-0 tonight,” Hawkeye sophomore point guard Caitlin Clark said on Big Ten Network postgame. “Rutgers has only won two conference games, but they’re a very solid team. They’ve been playing well as of late. We know they’re gonna go into battle … having a double-bye is nice, but you know, we have one more regular season game left and we’d like to win that one too.”

The Hawkeyes were the No. 6 seed in the 2021 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, only receiving a single-bye. In 2022, Iowa will begin tournament play in the quarterfinals.

“That’s huge,” senior center Monika Czinano said postgame. “Playing four games to to get to the championship, I mean, we all really felt that. Just having that extra bye, it’s a separator, it’s huge.”

Clark led the Hawkeyes with 32 points on Thursday night, adding on nine rebounds and nine assists. She also topped the Hawkeyes with five steals.

Clark scored 16 of her points in the fourth quarter as the Scarlet Knights mounted a comeback attempt. 

Rutgers climbed back from a 15-point deficit to trail the Hawkeyes by three with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Hawkeyes kept the Scarlet Knights at bay, maintaining a nine-point lead to finish the game.

Czinano and junior forward McKenna Warnock also ended the night in double-digits, with 23 and 19 points, respectively.

Czinano went 10-of-11 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Warnock shot 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-9 from the 3-point line.

“They make us go,” Clark said of her fellow starters on BTN. “Monika is tremendous, one of the best posts in the country. I think she’s the best and when she does get in it, she doesn’t get enough credit. And I think the same with McKenna Warnock. She plays super well. And the way she shot the ball tonight was incredible. She does a lot of dirty work.” 

Big Picture

The Hawkeyes have the chance to clinch a share of the Big Ten women’s basketball regular season title on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

No. 21 Iowa will take on No. 6 Michigan in the final game of the regular season at 3 p.m.

Both the Hawkeyes and the Wolverines will be playing for the Big Ten regular season title. If Michigan wins, it will be outright Big Ten regular season champions. If Iowa wins, it will hold the title outright if Ohio State loses on Sunday. If both the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes win on Sunday, they will share the regular season championship.

“They’re such a good team,” Bluder said of Michigan on BTN. “They’re top of the Big Ten, they’re a tremendous team … We’re gonna have a great environment. We’re gonna have 12-13,000 people in Carver, so it’s gonna be really fun.”

Clark eclipses 1,500 career points

With 32 points on Thursday night, Clark surpassed 1,500 career points in 56 collegiate games. Clark is the fastest Division I men’s or women’s basketball player to reach the mark in the last 20 seasons.

Clark is leading the nation with 26.9 points and 8.2 assists per game.

“People all recognize Caitlin for that she’s the leading scorer in the country,” Bluder said. “Well, yeah, but she leads the country in assists, too … She impacts the game in so many different ways that people get fixated on that scoring, where it’s other things as well.”

Up next

Following its game against Michigan, Iowa will head to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the 2022 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. 

The tournament starts on March 2, and the Hawkeyes will play their first game on March 4.