The second-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship with a 95-68 semifinal win over Michigan at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Saturday evening.
Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes, finishing with 28 points and 15 assists. Forward Hannah Stuelke and guard Kate Martin were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 16 and 13, respectively.
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The sixth-seeded Wolverines, coming off of a 69-56 upset win over the third-seeded Indiana Hoosiers on Friday, were led by guard Laila Phelia, who finished with 21 points and seven assists.
Junior guard Sydney Affolter once again started over Molly Davis after the latter was injured in Iowa’s last regular-season game, a 93-83 win against No. 2 Ohio State on March 3.
After winning the toss, Phelia turned it over for the Wolverines on the opening possession after being called for a charge. On the next possession, Clark was also called for an offensive foul and turned it over back to Michigan.
Clark scored first for Iowa on a layup. On Michigan’s following possession, Clark stripped Phelia and dribbled it down the court before finding Affolter underneath the basket for two points. It was a back-and-forth affair early on in the game before Michigan got ahold of a lead with three minutes remaining after the Wolverines went a perfect 6-6 on three-pointers, three of which from guard Lauren Hansen.
Michigan was on a 10-0 run before Stuelke stopped the momentum for the Wolverines. With 12 seconds remaining in the quarter, Clark found guard Gabbie Marshall in the corner, and the fifth-year senior drained the three-pointer before time expired.
Iowa trailed 25-22 heading into the second quarter.
Martin scored first for Iowa on an out-of-bounce play. The Hawkeyes got ahold of a quick 9-0 run after Clark and Affolter scored off Wolverine turnovers. Iowa led by 12 points following a three-pointer by Affolter, but Michigan’s Elissa Brett responded on the following possession by drilling a three of her own.
After a quiet first quarter, Clark turned it up in the second, scoring 14 points and notching her 20th double-double of the season while dishing out 11 assists. Heading into halftime, Iowa led 51-42.
All Iowa in the second half
Iowa scored first in the second half after Affolter nailed a wide-open three-pointer from the top of the key, but the Wolverines’ Brett once again responded on the other end with a three of her own. However, the Michigan guard exited the game by the 7:30 mark after picking up her fourth foul.
The Wolverines struggled offensively without Brett, going scoreless for over three minutes before forward Cameron Williams scored on a layup. Iowa outscored Michigan 21-13 in the third quarter as the Hawkeyes’ lead grew.
Iowa led 72-55 heading into the fourth.
The Wolverines lost Brett on the first possession of the fourth after the senior from Australia got called for an offensive foul on Marshall, her fifth of the game.
At around eight minutes, Stuelke fell to the court after making a layup. Video replay showed Stuelke rolling her ankle after landing on a Michigan defender’s foot. The sophomore from Cedar Rapids stayed on the court momentarily before walking off.
Back-to-back threes from Martin and Marshall gave Iowa an 11-0 run with over five minutes remaining in the quarter. By 4:30, all of the Hawkeyes starters had exited the game, and Iowa led by as much as 30.
Guard Kylie Feuerbach dribbled it out for Iowa as time expired, and the Hawkeyes won 95-68.
Up next
The Hawkeyes will now face the No. 5 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big Ten Tournament.