Fifth-ranked Iowa women use “gut check” to pull away from Nebraska
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – It’s not often, but there comes a time when every coach has to gather her team and have a ‘come to Jesus,’ reckoning. That time for Lisa Bluder was after a 3-pointer by Nebraska sophomore Callin Hake that gave the Cornhuskers a 31-27 lead late in the second quarter.
This was after Iowa started the game with a 9-0 lead and dilly-dallied it away.
“I think the team just needed a gut check,” Bluder said. “Maybe I need to call more timeouts.”
The Hawkeyes put together a 9-0 run that concluded with a Clark 3-pointer to finish the half. Then they scored on their first five possessions of the second half to take control en route to a 92-73 victory over Nebraska.
“I think she just fired us up,” Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said of the timeout. “That’s what I love about (Bluder). She’s going to get on us and coach us, and none of us want to let her down. We want to make her proud. We knew we weren’t playing to the standard of Iowa basketball.
“And I think those last couple minutes of the second quarter were really important. I felt like we kind of took the momentum back going into halftime. We were down four, and we end up going up five to go to half. That’s a huge swing.”
The run at the end of the second quarter included a Sydney Affolter rebound follow. It was Iowa’s second offensive rebound of the game, both by Affolter. Kate Martin scored four points on two free throws and a transition layup, and Clark finished it with a three with 1 second left to give Iowa a 36-31 lead. Give the sold-out crowd an assist as it roared to life after Affolter’s basket.
The third quarter start included a Clark assist to Martin, a Gabbie Marshall jumper after a Molly Davis rebound while she was lying on her back on the floor, a Clark fastbreak and two Clark logo threes. Trailing 48-35, the Huskers called timeout.
This time Nebraska couldn’t summon the magic to get back into the game as it had in the first quarter.
“I don’t think we were patient with our offense in the first half,” Bluder said. “We didn’t reverse the ball much. Really didn’t get any in-out looks, which is the best three that you can get. I just thought we were a little out of sorts in the first half, but we came back and played really well.”
Clark had 10 points in the first half on 3-of-10 shooting, but she finished the game with 38 points and eight threes (8-of-15). ESPN reported that Clark is tied for second for the most games (eight) with at least eight threes. ESPN’s database only goes back 25 years. Jessica Kovatch of St. Francis (Pa.) had nine games of at least eight 3-pointers.
Clark has feasted on Nebraska throughout her career. Last year alone she scored 63 points combined in the two games the teams played.
“There’s always people you enjoy playing a little more,” Clark said. “We always have really good battles with them. They always come ready to play versus Iowa, and they’re a talented team.”
Clark led Iowa with 10 rebounds, and the Hawkeyes needed every one they could get. They managed only four offensive rebounds. Davis and Martin had one apiece to go with the two from Affolter. Nebraska outrebounded Iowa by nine and the Huskers had 13 offensive rebounds.
“The rebounds were very disappointing because we really tried to make that a point of emphasis this week,” Bluder said. “They got 33 percent of offensive rebounds; we got 13 percent of offensive rebounds, so we did not do a good job crashing the boards.
“Rebounding has been a good thing for us, but in the last two games we’ve kind let down on that, and we have to get that back.”
Affolter’s play contributed to Iowa’s ability to stay in a back-and-forth second quarter. She hit a three and had the two rebound follow shots. She finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
“Syd always gives us great energy off the bench,” Bluder said. “She had our only two (offensive) rebounds in the first half, and she scored off both of them.”
Martin had 16 points. Davis contributed six assists.
Nebraska committed 20 turnovers which helped Iowa overcome the rebounding deficit. Overall the Huskers shot 39 percent, while Iowa shot 52.5 percent. The Huskers’ 3-point shooting (.345) was a bit above average for them and was good enough to cause concern until midway through the fourth quarter.
Guard Jaz Shelley led the Huskers with 19 points and made five 3-pointers. Alexis Markowski had 17 points despite constant double teams in the post. She had a game-high 11 rebounds. Hake scored 11.
Iowa is 19-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten. Nebraska is 13-7, 5-4. Iowa plays at Northwestern at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be on Peacock.