The No. 10 Iowa women’s basketball team picked up its first win over an AP top-2 opponent since the 1999-2000 season on Monday night, taking down previously undefeated No. 2 Ohio State, 83-72, at the Value City Arena in Columbus.

The Hawkeyes were also without their third-leading scorer, as senior forward McKenna Warnock was injured in Wednesday’s game at Michigan State. Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder looked to senior Molly Davis to fill Warnock’s void in the starting lineup.

Junior guard Caitlin Clark and fifth-year senior center Monika Czinano led the charge against the Buckeyes, scoring 50 of the Hawkeyes’ 83 points.

Clark and Czinano started off hot on Monday, as Clark totaled five first-quarter assists while Czinano put up 10 points. 

The Hawkeyes took control in the second quarter to bring a nine-point lead into halftime, but Buckeyes came out with a vengeance in the second half.

Iowa went up by 12 points early in the third quarter, but Ohio State rumbled back with a 10-0 run to get within two points. The Hawkeyes came out in the fourth quarter regrouped and ready, however, and outscored the Buckeyes, 27-18, in the final 10 minutes to take the win.

Czinano got into foul trouble in the second half and left the game on three separate occasions. She committed her fourth foul in the third quarter but still stayed in the game until the final buzzer. Czinano corralled 22 points and four rebounds while shooting 11-for-13 from the floor.

Clark records eighth career triple-double

Clark totaled 28 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds on Monday night for her eighth career triple-double — the most by a men’s or women’s basketball player in the Big Ten Conference.

The junior from West Des Moines shot 8-for-19 on the night and made 9-of-10 free throws.

Bench play

Iowa only played three players off the bench on Monday. One of them — AJ Ediger — only played one minute.

Freshman Hannah Stuelke and sophomore Sydney Affolter, who are typically the first off the bench for the Hawkeyes, provided valuable minutes on Monday.

Stuelke played 22 minutes, twice as many as she averages, as she stepped in for Czinano. She scored eight points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Affolter put in 11 minutes and shot 2-for-5 from the field with 4 points on the night.

Big Picture

This was Iowa’s only regular-season meeting with Ohio State in 2022-23.

Monday’s win puts the Hawkeyes in first place in the Big Ten with the tie-breaking advantage over the Buckeyes. Both Iowa and Ohio State now have 8-1 conference marks.

Up next

Iowa will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday to take on Nebraska. 

The Cornhuskers are 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the conference, most recently losing to Maryland, 69-54, on Sunday.