DES MOINES — The No. 4 Iowa women’s basketball team blew Cleveland State out, 104-75, at the Hy-Vee Hawkeye Showcase at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Saturday.

Iowa was led by star guard Caitlin Clark, who in her return to her native central-Iowa, finished the game with 38 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Forward Hannah Stuelke and guard Kate Martin were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 17 and 15, respectively. 

“I’m really just thankful that I was able to come back here and play in front of a lot of family and friends,” Clark said. “And I thought we played really well.”

Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in the post-game press conference that the atmosphere of the game was similar to that of a tournament game for the Black and Gold.

“It was electric,” Bluder said. “I think a lot of these people haven’t been able to see us play live, and I thought we did a nice job putting on a good show.”

With the win, Iowa advances to 11-1 on the season. Heading into the game, Cleveland State was 9-1 on the season with its only loss coming in the season opener against Bowling Green, which Iowa beat earlier in the season, 99-65. 

After winning the opening tipoff, Clark hit the opening three for Iowa 12 seconds into the game and would hit two more as the quarter progressed. 

Both teams went back and forth in scoring during the early minutes of the quarter as Vikings guards Mickayla Perdue and Colbi Maples each hit threes of their own, and Iowa’s players struggled taking care of the ball, committing six turnovers in the first quarter. 

During the post-game press conference, head coach Lisa Bluder said the turnovers were most likely the result of the players succumbing to the energy of the nearly 15,000 fans screaming — who were mostly Hawkeye fans. 

“We took some risky passes tonight that we probably didn’t need to [and] turned the ball over too many times,” Bluder said. 

But it was evident from the jump that Iowa would have the size advantage over Cleveland State as the Hawkeyes were able to capitalize on grabbing offensive rebounds and converting them into eight second-chance points in the first half. 

Bluder said the team made it an effort to increase their second-chance points opportunities from last season.

“I thought our offensive rebounding was just outstanding,” Bluder said. “We needed to be better offensive rebounders coming into this year, and I think we’re doing that.”

The Hawkeyes also found success early on with their post players as center Sharon Goodman scored six points and eight rebounds and Hannah Stuelke 13 points and seven rebounds — all in the first half.

It wasn’t all bad for the Vikings, however, as Cleveland State got a nice boost in momentum early in the second quarter after a free throw line jumper by Perdue and following that up with a three. 

With two minutes remaining in the second quarter, though, Clark hit a deep logo three and ran down the court shrugging like Michael Jordan, and Iowa went into halftime up, 53-36, shooting 16-of-34 from the field. 

With Cleveland State relying on a lot of zone schemes for their defense, Clark said she was given more space than usual to knock down threes.

“Any time you play zone defense — which we don’t really see — you should be able to get good looks from three, and I thought we did a really good job at that,” Clark said. 

Second half success

A couple of possessions into the half, Martin found guard Molly Davis open for a three-pointer to extend Iowa’s lead to 18.  After both teams exchanged scores, Martin got a steal and drove it down the court for two of her own. 

The good times continued for Iowa in the quarter as Clark often spent it celebrating down the court after making her three-point attempts, and the Hawkeyes finished the third quarter up, 83-54.

The Hawkeyes didn’t let off the gas heading into the fourth as Clark went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, including another trademark logo three-pointer with less than seven minutes remaining in the quarter. 

Two possessions later, Martin converted on a three-point play after Maples fouled her. And by the halfway mark of the quarter, all of Iowa’s starters had subbed out of the game, and bench players Jada Gyamfi and Addison O’Grady got their first meaningful minutes of the night. 

And a Gyamfi layup with 33 seconds remaining in the fourth closed it out in Des Moines, and Iowa won by nearly 30. 

Up next

Iowa returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 21, at home against the 5-4 Loyola Chicago Ramblers.