The No. 2 Iowa women’s basketball team outlasted the Penn State Nittany Lions, 111-93, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City Thursday evening.
Iowa was led by forward Hannah Stuelke, who finished with a career-high 47 points on 17-of-20 shooting from the field. Guards Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 27 and 16, respectively.
Stuelke was one point away from tying Megan Gustafson’s single-game scoring record for Iowa, which the Naismith Player of the Year did during a loss against Minnesota in the third round of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament.
“It’s really cool,” Stuelke said during the post-game press conference. “I remember watching Megan and seeing her score all those points, and now that I’m the one that little girls can look up to, that’s just amazing.”
The Nittany Lions came into Thursday’s matchup winning six of their last seven games and ranked third in the Big Ten behind guard Makenna Marisa, who has led the team in points and assists per game with 15.1 and 3, respectively, until the return of Ashley Owusu from injury.
Clark got the Hawkeyes started early in the game, hitting a three on Iowa’s first possession and following that up by finding Stuelke underneath for two points. Entering the game needing a historic 66 points to surpass Kelsey Plum as the all-time scoring leader in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, Clark instead would tie an arena record with 15 dimes.
“It’s really good to see us be able to have contributions from people other than just Caitlin,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “Caitlin had some amazing assists, and Hannah was incredible running the floor.”
A couple of possessions later, Stuelke would get the rock again and size up Owusu, finessing her way past the former All-Big Ten player at Maryland for another basket for the Hawkeyes.
The rest of the quarter was a roller coaster as Penn State got a hold of an early lead behind successful shooting from behind the three point line, and Clark struggled, turning it over five times and getting two early fouls.
Clark would finish the half with nine turnovers and the game with 12, a career-high. After Clark was benched with two minutes remaining in the first after picking up her second foul with a charge, Clark was pulled back from teammates after disputing with the referee.
Penn State led, 25-23, to the end of the first quarter, but Iowa responded in the second, shooting 66 percent from the field as Clark scored 16 points and notched four assists, including one to Martin during a fast break.
After a pair of free throws by Clark, Iowa went into halftime up, 55-44.
Second half success
Stuelke opened up the third quarter, scoring the first nine points for Iowa as the Nittany Lions failed to contain the sophomore from scoring in transition. She finished the quarter with 13 points, and Iowa led by as much as 23.
Stuelke credited her time competing in another sport as helping her score on fast break situations — where she gets so many of her points.
“I did track in high school, and I was really fast, so I just turn my head and go,” she joked.
With seconds remaining in the third, Clark sprinted down the court and found guard Syd Affolter in the corner for a three-pointer that tip-toed around the rim before falling through the net as time expired, and Iowa led, 79-63.
Stuelke continued to be the focal point on offense in the fourth, accounting for 10 of the team’s first 12 points, and drew fouls from Nittany Lion defenders trying to guard her in the post.
The Nittany Lions weren’t totally out of it, and a pair of free throws from guard Leilani Kapinus cut Iowa’s lead to 10 with less than five minutes remaining. However, a late-game miracle wasn’t in the cards for Penn State, and Iowa pushed toward the win.
Up next
Iowa, now 22-2, returns to action on Super Bowl Sunday on the road against the 15-8 Nebraska Cornhuskers — where Clark is 39 points away from breaking the scoring record.
