The No. 3 Iowa women’s basketball team decisively bested No. 14 Indiana, 84-57, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday night in its toughest Big Ten competition it’s faced so far this season. 

The Hoosiers came into the game riding a 13-game win streak and possessed the second-best record in the Big Ten at 14-1 behind star forward Mackenzie Holmes, who leads the Hoosiers in points and rebounds per game at 19.7 and 7.3, respectively.

Poor weather, which included temperatures below 0°F and 20 inches of snow dropped on Iowa City over the past week, threatened the game from even taking place, as the Hoosiers arrived later than usual in Iowa City on Saturday morning.

The weather didn’t stop the fans, however, and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in the post-game press conference that she couldn’t remember another time it was that loud in Carver.

“We’re not supposed to be outside because of the wind chill, and we had 14,000 people in here; It’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “It’s dangerous outside, but our fans don’t care, and I’m just so thankful for that.”

Iowa was once again led by star guard Caitlin Clark, who finished with a double-double of 30 points and 11 assists while also grabbing five rebounds. Guards Molly Davis and Gabbie Marshall were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 18 and 12, respectively.

Iowa got off to a rough start shooting, going 2-of-13 from behind the arc in the first quarter, with the team mainly gaining success due to mistakes made by Indiana, including the Hoosiers committing seven turnovers in the first 15 minutes of play. 

Both teams exchanged leads in the first quarter until Clark started to find her shot in the second, hitting back-to-back contested threes during the early minutes of the quarter. Later, it was the Molly Davis show on both sides of the court as the fifth-year scored seven points and forced a turnover.

Davis’s 18 points marks a career high for the Central Michigan transfer during her time in the Black and Gold. Bluder said that even though Davis shined offensively, she was more impressed by the way she played defense.

“I thought she did a tremendous job leading our team,” Bluder said. 

An emotional Davis reflected after the game on her journey from Central Michigan to Iowa City and how she was thankful Bluder and the coaching staff gave her an opportunity to play for Iowa.

Still, it was still difficult to outshine Clark, who hit two threes with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, including a step-back buzzer-beater with only three seconds remaining.

Extending the lead

The Hoosiers still managed to keep it close during the early minutes of the second half behind leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes, who finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Iowa was able to stifle any offense the Hoosiers had going, though, and Bluder’s squad was able to hold Indiana to just 20 points in the second half. 

“That second half I thought was beautiful,” Bluder said. “I thought our players really played well together — defensively and offensively.”

The momentum continued for the Hawkeyes in the third quarter with Clark once again having consecutive possessions of nailing back-to-back threes as well as Marshall going two of three from behind the arc.

And guard Kate Martin notched her 10th point and 12th rebound in the evening — the former setting her above 1,000 career points while at Iowa.

Clark hit a three-pointer from the logo with less than two minutes remaining, and Iowa would go into the fourth quarter up 17. 

Momentary scare

The crowd erupted after a Davis layup a minute into the fourth quarter but would be silenced in shock moments later after Clark appeared to hobble on one leg and look visibly in pain. 

She would exit the game shortly after and head to the locker room but reappeared moments later and checked back into the game with a little over eight minutes remaining. 

With Clark back in the lineup, the Hawkeyes went on another run, with Marshall hitting her fourth three of the game and guard Sydney Affolter notching her first points of the game with a corner three off of the assist from Clark.

By 1:19 in the fourth, all starters besides Davis were subbed out, and Iowa went on to a decisive 84-57 victory over Indiana. 

Up next

Iowa returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at home against the 8-8 overall Wisconsin Badgers, who the Hawkeyes already defeated earlier this season, 87-65, on the road in Madison.