ALBANY, N.Y. — Following Iowa’s 64-54 win against West Virginia, in which the Hawkeyes had one of their worst shooting performances of the season, some wondered how the team would fare against one of the best defenses in the country in Colorado.
Caitlin Clark and Co. reminded the world why they’d been ranked the No. 1 scoring offense in collegiate women’s basketball throughout the season. During the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night, all five starters scored in double figures as the Hawkeyes downed the Buffaloes, 89-68.
“When we have five people in double digits, we are so hard to guard,” head coach Lisa Bluder said in the postgame press conference.
Clark led Iowa with a double-double of 29 points and 15 assists. Guard Sydney Affolter was the Hawkeyes’ next leading scorer with 15, and Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall each put up 14. Iowa’s 53.8 shooting percentage from the field against Colorado was the best the team has shot so far in the tournament. The Hawkeyes also shot 40.9 percent from behind the arc.
“If we moved the ball like we did tonight, it makes the defense work even harder, and it just opens things up when you’re hitting shots from the outside and there’s balanced scoring,” Marshall said.
Colorado employed suffocating defense on Clark all night, face-guarding the projected No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft throughout the contest. This allowed Clark to blow by the defense for easy layups or dish it out to one of her teammates.
“I thought my penetration to the basket was really good, and I think that also led to quite a few of my assists because it made them pick and choose exactly [who] they wanted to [cover],” Clark said. “This was the first time in about three games that we were able to put together a complete basketball game on both ends of the floor.”
Clark said the success on the offensive side of the ball came with her and the team making stops on defense, with Iowa forcing 13 turnovers and pushing the pace in transition.
“When we’re able to get stops on defense, that’s where I really thrive in the transition game,” Clark said. “I think Syd [Affotler] runs the floor really well, Hannah [Stuelke] runs the floor really well, and those are tough passes to catch and handle. You don’t get the assist if your teammate doesn’t make the basket.”
With much attention going toward Clark’s shooting capabilities to pull up from virtually anywhere on the court, Bluder said she doesn’t get enough credit for her court vision and how she finds open teammates.
“It opens things up for us when there is a lot of attention on Caitlin,” Marshall said. “I think she does a great job of finding teammates and reading the defense before they even do what they’re going to do.”
Clark said she felt less pressure to be the sole scorer for Iowa coming into this game.
“I have 13 amazing teammates that have my back, and, you know, these are the moments we’ve worked so hard for,” she said. “This is why you put so much time in the gym by yourself and with your teammates, and I guess it’s just kind of like, go let your work shine.”
Iowa will need to continue this balanced scoring approach if it wants to continue advancing through the tournament. Iowa takes on LSU on Monday in the Elite Eight, a rematch of last year’s national championship.
“It’s just another team in the way of our goal, and I think we’re not going to prepare any differently than we have all year,” Marshall said. “We’re going to play Iowa basketball.”
