Iowa women’s basketball’s Hannah Stuelke set a new career-high during the Hawkeyes’ 111-93 win against Penn State on Thursday.
The sophomore has had an up-and-down season marred by injuries.
But tonight she scored 47, shattering her previous record of 22 points that she set during Iowa’s 2023-24 home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 8. Stuelke also bested her high school record of 44 points from her senior year at Washington High School.
She set the scoring record for a single game inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and was one point away from tying the all-time program record of 48 set by Megan Gustafson in 2018 against Minnesota. It was also the first time Caitlin Clark hadn’t been Iowa’s leading scorer in a game since 2022.
“I remember watching Megan and seeing her score so many points,” Stuelke said on her career night. “Now I’m the one that the little girls look up to, and I think that’s just amazing.”
Hailing from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Stuelke has followed the Hawkeyes all her life and noted how much she appreciates the stage she gets to play on.
Stuelke was efficient from the floor, going 17-of-20 in the game, and added 13 points from the free throw line. Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder credited Stuelke’s ability to run the floor and fill the lane as a big reason for her success tonight.
Stuelke said her big night still hasn’t set in, and she added that she was in the zone and was unaware of how many points she had.
“I think my confidence is going to come up a lot,” Stuelke said. “I know now I can be more aggressive offensively, so that’s exciting. My free throws still aren’t where I want them to be, but I can keep working on that every day.”
Stuelke appreciated the chants she received during the game, which made her “feel special.” She also appreciates her parents for being her biggest fans in the stands and supporting her and her teammates during the games.
Stuelke credited her teammates, like Caitlin Clark, who tallied 15 assists, for getting her the ball to take advantage of mismatches in the post.
“[Caitlin Clark] has a lot of confidence in me,” Stuelke said. “She wants me to keep playing at my best, so she just keeps building me up.”
Stuelke added that she views Clark as a mentor for her career because of Clark’s leadership on the team and how she operates daily.
Clark wasn’t the only one who had confidence in the forward. Redshirt junior Sharon Goodman was set to enter the game late in the fourth quarter but said no because she wanted to see if Stuelke could get 50.
“That’s the culture of our program,” Bluder said. “Sharon has an opportunity to go in — she was a starter at the beginning of the year — and she instead wanted Hannah to have this record. I can’t express to you enough how much this team cares about each other, looks out for each other, and that’s what makes it so fun to coach them.”
