The No. 4 Iowa women’s basketball team crushed the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 103-69, inside Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Friday night — behind Caitlin Clark’s 14th-career triple-double.

Clark scored 29 points on 10-of-22 from the field, 3-of-9 from three, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, adding 10 rebounds and 10 assists to the night with just three turnovers — as the Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists in the game with just nine turnovers.

But the scoring effort from Clark’s supporting cast tonight was as widespread as it’s ever been this season, keeping the Scarlet Knights trailing far behind the Hawkeyes for the final three quarters of play.

Iowa guard Kate Martin followed Clark with 17 points on 7-of-10 from the field in addition to seven rebounds and five assists, and fellow starting guard Gabbie Marshall lit it up from three as she made four of her seven attempts.

And guard Sydney Affolter and forward Hannah Stuelke both snagged 10 points, the former hitting a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds off of the bench while the latter added seven rebounds and four assists to her statline.

The Hawkeyes got out to a fast pace early on, and Clark took much of the volume on offense even as the Scarlet Knights forced her into off-balanced threes and tough finishes around the rim.

But she was not the only one scoring for Iowa — as she sometimes is — as beautiful ball movement helped each starting Hawkeye but Marshall in notching a bucket by the Rutgers timeout at the six-minute mark.

The Scarlet Knights’ offense — with breakout leader Destiny Adams on the bench for much of the period due to foul trouble — remained susceptible to the turnover bug and unable to hit the three ball in the first, so the Hawkeyes took a 25-19 lead into the second.

After missing her first four threes in the first quarter, Clark finally found the bottom of the bucket from deep in the second, and a trio of crafty passes in transition from the Des Moines local boosted the Iowa lead to 10.

Ten Iowa offensive rebounds in the game by halftime helped pull the Hawkeyes away to a very comfortable double-digit lead, as did Martin’s 10 points and center Sharon Goodman’s eight off of the bench thus far.

Teamwork ➡️ dream work

So the Hawkeyes led the Scarlet Knights, 55-30, to open the second half, and the efficient Iowa ball movement continued as the Hawkeyes played off of one another on offense and reached 18 assists on just seven turnovers by the halfway mark of the third quarter.

Iowa guard Taylor McCabe saw her first game action of the night in that third period as a Clark three hit nothing but nylon to cross the 70-point threshold for the Hawkeyes, who enjoyed an 81-46 lead moving into the final quarter.

That fourth quarter opened with Clark’s 10th rebound and both ninth and 10th assists for the triple-double, and she took a seat for the remainder of the game as Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder began to shuffle her reserves in.

Iowa guard Molly Davis gave reserve center Addison O’Grady a very nifty pass for an easy layup that made 100 points on the evening, and the Hawkeyes rode the lead out to the win.

Up next

The Hawkeyes, now 15-1 overall, will remain on the road for their next contest on Jan. 10 when they travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, to take on the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Boilermakers are 9-5 overall this season, coming off of a nail-biting 77-76 win over Rutgers on Jan. 2.