Iowa women’s basketball advances to Big Ten Tournament semifinals with victory over Purdue

Senior guard Gabbie Marshall was hot from the 3-point line, going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in the 69-58 victory.

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Matt Sindt

Iowa guard Gabbie Marshall tosses the ball for a layup during a women’s basketball game between No. 7 Iowa and Purdue at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday, March 3, 2023. The Hawkeyes defeated the Boilermakers, 69-58. Marshall scored 11 points.

Colin Votzmeyer, Sports Reporter


MINNEAPOLIS — The second-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team advanced to the semifinal stage of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday with a 69-58 quarterfinal win over Purdue at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Boilermakers, coming off of a 57-55 win over the 10th-seeded Wisconsin Badgers on Thursday, played a scrappy defense. But they wouldn’t contain Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark’s 22 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Clark, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, started slow with seven points in the first half, but she exploded for 12 in the fourth quarter alone.

Clark was aided by fifth-year senior center Monika Czinano, who joined her on the All-Big Ten first team, and senior guard Gabbie Marshall — she scored 11 points on 4-for-7 for the field, and 3-for-5 from three with three rebounds and two assists.

“I think Gabbie has always continued to work hard even when her shot is not going down,” Clark said. “I think it’s the confidence that her teammates and coach [Lisa] Bluder and our coaching staff continue to pour into her … I’m happy for her. She continued to work. She never hung her head.”

Solo scoring and a scrappy second

The combo of Clark and Czinano led the opening scoring with seven and six points, respectively, for 13 of the Hawkeyes’ 19 first-quarter points to the Boilermakers’ 10.

Defensively, Iowa held Purdue to 4-for-16 from the field in the first and forced four turnovers. Its defensive effort continued into the second as the Hawkeyes dropped into a two-three zone to keep the Boilermakers below 50 percent from the field.

But the second quarter was frustrating for the Hawkeyes. 

Despite Marshall paving the way for the Iowa offense, drilling two wide-open corner 3-pointers to lead the team’s scoring for the quarter, the Boilermakers remained active in their backcourt as they collapsed on Iowa’s ball entries into the paint.

Iowa shot 2-for-10 from the field in the second and turned the ball over six times. Clark was scoreless, and Czinano scored two.

“I think we didn’t really run and cut to spots,” Clark said. “I think we had too many turnovers, especially in the second quarter, and then we also didn’t make some shots that we do usually make.”

With a minute left in the second quarter, Clark was issued a shooting foul and technical foul after verbalizations to the baseline official in the same possession, so Purdue was awarded four free throws.

“I was just kind of frustrated, and sometimes your emotions get you, and that’s what happens,” Clark said. “I think I responded pretty well. It is what it is. That’s just how things go sometimes.”

Clark awakens

The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers went back and forth in the third quarter. While the Boilers took their first lead of the game with three quick threes and persistent offensive rebounding, Marshall responded with a reverse layup and three from the left wing, and Clark sank an and-one floater.

“I think we were separating ourselves in the way we were really reversing the ball, taking our time, and pushing in transition,” Czinano said. “We were just reverting more back to how we know how to play, setting the tone of the game for ourselves.”

The Hawkeyes brought a 45-40 lead into the final quarter, and they began to pull away as Clark rose to the occasion — she pushed the ball in transition, shooting 4-for-5 from the field and scoring 12 points in the quarter, including a pull-up three from the top of the key to get Hawkeye fans on their feet. 

“I knew my team needed me, and we needed to create some separation,” Clark said. “I think the biggest thing was we got these stops on the defensive end. I got the rebound, and we pushed, and that’s how I scored the ball.”

Purdue cooled off from deep, and Iowa continued the pressure to win the quarter, 24-18, and ultimately the game.

“I thought they played hard, honestly,” Clark said. “The biggest thing is they played hard until the final buzzer, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for that.”

Up next

The Hawkeyes will advance to play tomorrow against the No. 3 seed Maryland Terrapins.

The last time the Terrapins and Hawkeyes squared off was Feb. 21. Maryland steamrolled the Hawkeyes, 96-68.