The No. 6 Iowa women’s basketball team got revenge on No. 2 Ohio State, winning 93-83, during Senior Day at Carver Hawkeye Arena Sunday afternoon.
Iowa was led by guard Caitlin Clark, who finished with 33 points and nine assists. Forward Hannah Stuelke and guard Gabbie Marshall were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 23 and 12, respectively.
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Ohio State came into Sunday’s matchup with a 25-3 record on the season, beating the Hawkeyes 100-92 in the two teams first matchup Jan.21. Head coach Kevin McGuff’s squad was led by guard Jacy Sheldon who finished the game with 24 points and nine assists.
After winning the toss, the Buckeyes’ Cotie McMahon missed on a deep jumper. Stuelke shanked a layup on Iowa’s first possession, and Sheldon scored first for the Buckeyes on the following possession.
Less than a minute into the game, Marshall scored first for Iowa on a corner three. Sheldon responded on the other end for the Buckeyes by hitting a three of her own.
After Taylor Thierry missed both free throws, Clark found Stuelke in transition, who scored on a post move underneath. Stuelke finished the quarter with 10 points, and it was a back-and-forth contest for the remainder of the quarter, with the lead changing three times.
The second quarter started with a layup from Thierry off a Clark turnover. The future No 1 pick in the WBNA recovered however, and would make two consecutive three-pointers. Around the seven minute mark, guard Molly Davis took a hard fall going for the steal on Rebeka Mikulasikova and remained on the court for several minutes as medical staff assisted her.
Davis was carried off the court and would not return to the game.
With 4:32 remaining in the quarter, Iowa led 36-32. With less than four minutes to go, Martin got the steal on Taylor, passing it to Clark who turned it over attempting to get the ball to Stuelke.
On Iowa’s next possession, Martin drove to the basket and shanked a wide-open layup, but luckily for the Hawkeyes, Stuelke got the offensive rebound and made the putback layup.
Clark rebounded a Madison Green missed three-pointer, and dribbled down the court with 40 seconds remaining in the first half. Clark missed on her three-pointer, and Ohio State’s Rick Harris quickly got the defensive rebound and hit a three with eight seconds remaining.
This should have been the last points of the quarter, but Green got called with the shooting foul on Stuelke, and McMahon, unhappy with the call, was issued a technical foul.
Stuelke and Clark both made their free throws. The two points off Clark’s free throws put her ahead of Pete Maravich as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history.
Going into halftime, Iowa led 48-39.
Efficient shooting for Iowa
The Buckeyes came out the gates hot in the third quarter, going on a seven-point run following layups by Theirry and McMahon and a three from Mikulasikova.
But the Hawkeyes responded, with Clark scoring Iowa’s opening points of the half on a three pointer from the left wing, and Marshall following it up with a three from the corner.
With five and a half minutes remaining, guard Kylie Feuerbach picked off Celeste Taylor and sprinted down the other end to score on a fast break layup.
Two layups from Ohio State’s Theirry and Sheldon cut Iowa’s lead to five with less than four minutes remaining. After, the Buckeyes’ Harris fouled Stuelke on a shooting attempt, which was upgraded to a technical after the Ohio State guard spiked the ball.
Stuelke went 1-2 while Clark made both free throws and Iowa led 61-53. Following the technical, Iowa went on a 14-5 run before the Buckeyes’ Sheldon hit a three-pointer with seconds remaining.
Entering the fourth, Iowa led by 11 points.
The Buckeyes got the ball to start the fourth and Mikulasikova fumbled it underneath the basket, turning it over for Ohio State. Clark scored first for Iowa in the fourth on a free throw off the foul by Taylor but missed on her second attempt.
Next, Mikulasikova hit a three-pointer atop of the key off the assist by Sheldon. The Hawkeyes responded the following two possessions with layups from Martin and Stuelke.
Despite Ohio State getting into foul trouble—Taylor and Sheldon both picked up their fourth personal foul during the quarter—the Buckeyes weren’t out of it yet, and three from Mikulasikova five minutes into the quarter cut Iowa’s lead to 12.
Sheldon scored on a layup for Ohio State to make it an eight-point game with 47 seconds left. However, the Buckeyes couldn’t pull off the comeback during this matchup, and Iowa won 93-83.
Up next
Iowa, now 26-4, travels to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the Big Ten Tournament, where the Hawkeyes are expected to be the No. 2 seed.