The No. 4 Iowa women’s basketball team crushed the Michigan Wolverines, 106-89, inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday — as Caitlin Clark had one of the best performances ever in a Hawkeye uniform.
Just two minutes into the first quarter, Clark’s eighth point — a three confidently pulled from just inside of the Tigerhawk logo at halfcourt — made her 3,528th of her career.
That bucket also made her the NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-time leading scorer, surpassing Kelsey Plum.
And with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Clark hit her second record of the night in notching the highest-scoring performance inside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“That was never really my goal to get it [the all-time scoring record] done really fast, but I made my first couple of shots, so I was able to get another one up pretty fast,” Clark said. “It was nice to get it done there fairly quickly so we could just move on and focus on winning a basketball game. I think you’ve got to give Michigan a lot of credit. They played really well. They hit a lot of tough shots tonight.”
Clark finished the game at the helm of the Hawkeyes’ scoring effort, amassing a total of 49 points on 16-of-31 from the field, 9-of-18 from deep, and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. She added 13 assists to the night as well.
Supporting her came guard Kate Martin and forward Hannah Stuelke with 20 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from three and 13 points, respectively.
In fact, it was a Hawkeye three-point shooting streak the entire night as Iowa shot a very impressive 51 percent from deep in the game.
Clark had a whopping 23 points in the first quarter — on a wowing 8-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from three — not to mention four assists.
With Carver-Hawkeye Arena the loudest it’s been this season in full-fledged support of the West Des Moines local’s achievement, it was hard to focus on anything other than No. 22 for the first quarter, which the Hawkeyes won, 33-22.
“The crowd was amazing,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “The crowd energy, the appreciation by our crowd — there’s nothing like Iowa Hawkeye fans, and we know that. We’re thankful for that.”
Clark took on a facilitating role to start the second quarter, finding Martin in the paint for a crafty pass that wrapped around the former’s Wolverine defender and right into the latter’s hands for a layup.
But it was Martin’s quarter this time around, highlighted by her chasing down a big block that sent the ball hurling out of bounds before she let out a massive roar in celebration.
And with a wide-open splashed three-ball of her own from the top of the key, Martin finished the second quarter with five points as guard Gabbie Marshall nailed two threes. But that didn’t erase the fact that Michigan kept this quarter a lot tighter, in turn holding the game at 53-41 for the second half.
Never a doubt
Clark and guard Molly Davis — whose minutes before today had been limited due to illness — kicked the second half off exchanging threes to cushion Iowa’s lead.
The Hawkeyes remained persistent on the offensive boards, and efficient ball movement including a give-and-go from center Addison O’Grady to Clark fueled this Iowa offense.
And a Michigan shot clock violation forced by quickly rotating Iowa defense preceded a Clark three that got Hawkeye fans back on their feet for a chunk of the third quarter’s end. So with momentum pushing the Black and Gold into the fourth quarter, up, 81-60, Bluder began to rotate her reserves onto the court.
Second-year backup guard Taylor McCabe got in on the shooting splashes, an attempt hitting all net for her first points of the game before she dished an assist to Martin — for yet another trey.
That 20-point lead continued throughout the fourth quarter, Iowa gradually chipping away at the clock with steady, patient paint penetrations and cuts for layups.
A pair of free throws and a one-two catch-and-shoot three gave Clark her second record of the night, this time passing Stuelke for the most points scored in a single game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“[Stuelke] says she passed the torch to me,” Clark said jokingly. “Hannah will break my record. She’s got to break my record playing here for another couple of years.”
So the Hawkeyes emerged with the 17-point win, honored Clark’s feat after the game, and returned to the win column as they now move into a week off from gameplay.
Up next
The 23-3 Hawkeyes have the No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers next at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, on Feb. 22.
The two last squared off on Jan. 13, Iowa smashing IU, 84-57.