No. 21 Iowa women’s basketball defeated No. 6 Michigan, 104-80, in front of a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday to become Big Ten regular season co-champions. 

The Hawkeyes share the title with Ohio State Buckeyes as both teams boasted a Big Ten record of 14-4 on the 2021-22 season.

“I am just so thankful, this whole season has been amazing,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “We’ve had so many ups and downs. A month ago we had seven players, we had two COVID shutdowns, we had rescheduled games, and these guys kept believing. I’m so blessed to be able to coach them.”

National Player of the Year candidate sophomore Caitlin Clark had an electric performance against the Wolverines. Clark finished with a double-double in the game, scoring 38 points and dishing out 11 assists. Clark was also perfect from the charity stripe with eight points.  She was effective on the glass too, as she grabbed six rebounds. 

Junior guard Gabbie Marshall found her groove against Michigan as well, scoring 14 points while shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc. Marshall was also picking the Wolverines’ pockets as she racked up two steals.

Sophomore Kylie Feuerbach, who transferred from Iowa State for the 2021-22 season, chipped in off the bench, scoring seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.

Big Picture 

With the victory over Michigan, Iowa secured the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. 

The Hawkeyes ended their regular season on a four-game win streak and an overall record of 20-7.

Senior Day

Iowa honored two seniors after the win on Sunday: Guard Tomi Taiwo and forward Logan Cook. 

Taiwo has been a significant contributor for the Hawkeyes this season, starting five games in place of McKenna Warnock. The guard out of Carmel, Indiana, has averaged 4.5 points and two rebounds per game in 2021-22.

Cook only appeared in 11 games this season because of injury, but made one start for Iowa this season. On Sunday, Cook made her first appearance on the floor since early January.

Bluder subbed Taiwo and Cook off the floor individually in the final minutes of the game to cheers from the sold out Carver crowd.

“For four years that [Logan’s] been here she’s had an up and down career as far as injuries,” Bluder said. “Very thankful to have her be able to get out there and get that standing ovation when she came off the floor, along with Tomi. That’s why we wanted to bring them off individually, you don’t always get to do that.”

Up next

The regular season co-champion Hawkeyes will now travel to Indianapolis to compete in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes will face the winner of Minnesota and Northwestern on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Iowa split the season series with Northwestern. The Hawkeyes swept Minnesota during the 2021-22 season, including a 105-49 rout over the Gophers in Minneapolis. 

Iowa’s first Big Ten tournament game will tip off this Friday at 5:30 p.m. and will be aired on Big Ten Network.