Center Monika Czinano became the fifth Hawkeye to reach 2,000 career points during the No. 12 Iowa women’s basketball team’s 83-68 win against Purdue on Thursday.

The fifth-year senior reached the milestone with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter when she made the first of two free throws. The Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd gave Czinano a standing ovation which lasted through the second free throw, which she also made to get to 2,001.

Czinano acknowledged the exclusive list she joined following the game on Thursday, which includes teammate Caitlin Clark and former Hawkeye center and current WNBA player Megan Gustafson.

“It’s really special,” Czinano said. “It probably hasn’t really sunk in yet. But seeing Megan do it and seeing Caitlin do it — it’s a really exclusive list that I’m joining in great Hawkeyes and so it’s just a huge honor.”

“I just couldn’t be more proud of her,” said head coach Lisa Bluder.

Clark crossed the 2,000-point mark just eight days prior in Iowa’s win against Dartmouth on Dec. 21, making it the first time in Big Ten Conference history that two teammates have reached 2,000 career points in the same season.

Czinano started slow, struggling to get shots early on. She scored only one point in the first quarter, and got no shots off from the floor. She only had five points at the end of the first half.

Czinano’s struggles continued in the third quarter, where her lone point off a free throw got her to 1,995. She missed all three of her field goals.

Going into the fourth, it was looking like the Watertown, Minnesota, native might have to wait another few days to reach the 2,000 mark. But she opened the fourth quarter scoring with a layup to reach 1,997.

Twenty six seconds later, Czinano found herself at the line, where she hit both shots to pull herself one point shy of 2,000 with 9:26 remaining in the game.

With 6:15 to go, Czinano drew a foul from Purdue’s Caitlyn Harper. As the 6-foot-3 post stepped to the line, the Hawkeye faithful waited eagerly, ready to jump out of their seats. And the rest was history.

Czinano finished the night with 12 points and five rebounds, shooting a below-usual 3-for-8 on field goals.

Big Picture

On a night in which four ranked teams — North Carolina, NC State, Indiana, and Virginia Tech — lost to unranked opponents, Iowa held strong.

Bluder, who broke the all-time Big Ten wins record in Iowa’s most recent conference game, added one more to her tally on Thursday. Iowa now shares the conference lead with Ohio State at 3-0.

Warnock impresses

Senior forward McKenna Warnock put up 19 points on the night, shooting a staggering 5-for-7 from 3-point range. She also came up just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.

“I just got passes from people and knocked them down,” Warnock said. “So, that was good to see. I mean, I haven’t been shooting as good this year as I have other years, so it was definitely exciting.”

While Warnock’s field goal percentage was above 50 percent during the first three years of her career, it sits at 47.6 this season. Warnock is shooting 39.3 from beyond the arc this season, while she’s shot above 40 percent in every collegiate year beforehand.

Clark does business as usual

It was another day at the office for Clark, who put up 24 points with six rebounds and five assists, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor.

Clark and Warnock combined for more than 40 points in Iowa’s win against Purdue on Thursday.

Stuelke grabs quick double-double

Hannah Stuelke played just under 11 minutes on Thursday. In that time, she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The freshman from Cedar Rapids shot 5-for-6 from the floor, but only made 1-of-4 free throws on the night.

Up next

The Hawkeyes will be off until the new year. Iowa will take on Illinois on Jan. 1, 2023, in Champaign at the State Farm Center.