The No. 5 Iowa women’s basketball team beat rival Nebraska, 92-73, Saturday afternoon in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but the score doesn’t quite tell how close the game was earlier in the contest.
During the first half of the game, it seemed like last week’s crushing 92-100 overtime loss to No. 12 Ohio State would carry over into Saturday’s game as the Hawkeyes started out slow, committing seven turnovers while Nebraska found success early from three despite a scoreless start to the first five minutes.
After Nebraska took an early four-point lead over the Hawkeyes with a three-pointer from guard Callin Hake with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder called a timeout to talk with her team and try to stop the Cornhuskers’ momentum.
Following the timeout, Iowa went on a nine-point run, and the Hawkeyes would close out the first half up, 36-31, after a Caitlin Clark three-pointer with seconds remaining provided momentum to an offense that unusually otherwise stalled, notably scoring just 14 points in the first quarter.
“I just don’t think we were patient with our offense in the first half,” Bluder said. “We didn’t reverse the ball much, and didn’t get any in-and-out looks [that often lead to three-pointers].”
Clark said following the game that Bluder lit a fire among the starters during that timeout and that the team knew it was not playing up to its standards.
“None of us ever want to let [Bluder] down. We want to make her proud [due] to what she’s given to our team,” Clark said. “She is one of the best basketball minds there’s ever been.”
Clark and the rest of the team turned it up a notch in the second half with the star guard scoring 15 points in the third quarter while shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She finished the game with 38 points and 10 rebounds, her 10th double-double of the season, with 28 points coming in the second half alone.
Clark’s performance was supported by sixth-year guard Kate Martin’s 16 points and backup guard Sydney Affolter’s scoring 12 coming off of the bench.
Clark is undefeated playing Nebraska in her four years suiting up for the Black and Gold, and the women’s team has not lost to the Cornhuskers since 2019.
“I feel like we always have really good battles with them,” Clark said. “No matter what it is, they always come ready to play versus us, and they’re a talented team.”
Clark said she loves Bluder’s coaching style because she holds players to a high standard and is not afraid to dish out some tough love.
“I never want to stop being coached or being told what’s right and what’s wrong no matter how good or bad I play,” Clark said. “She’s going to get on me because she knows there’s still areas for me to improve.”