Iowa women win by 36 before capacity crowd in Evanston
Caitlin Clark scores 35 points to becomes Big Ten's all-time leading scorer
By Susan Harman
EVANSTON, Illinois – What this game lacked in suspense it made up for with high-pitched screams.
Iowa slowly, methodically ran over Northwestern 110-74 Wednesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena much to the delight of the many black-and-gold attired children in attendance at the sold-out game.
“We talked about coming here with intention and not just going through the motions and get a W but coming in here and getting better at some things, and then we did a better job of rebounding in the second half,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I love 28 assists and five turnovers.”
Caitlin Clark scored 35 points, mostly on drives to the basket and free throws because her 3-point shot was a little off (3-for-12). She made all 10 of her free throws and contributed 10 assists. She had three steals, one block and only one turnover.
“I didn’t shoot very well from three tonight, and I’ve been shooting the ball pretty well,” Clark said. “That happens, but I think, you know, get to the basket, go to the free-throw line. That’s just kind of what you have to do.”
Of Clark’s game-high assist total, one had Bluder searching for the right words to properly describe it. Clark was trapped near one of the legs of the “N” at center court and somehow hooked a pass over her head 40 feet to Stuelke under the basket for a layup.
“She had a pass tonight that was just ridiculous,” Bluder said. “To Hannah, at the end of the shot clock, it was crazy. I love watching it, and I get to see it every day.”
Clark passed both Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles and Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell on the NCAA all-time career scoring list and now trails only Washington’s Kelsey Plum.
But this was a night when Iowa got multiple offensive contributions. Four players finished in double figures: Clark, Hannah Stuelke with 17, Kate Martin 16 and Gabbie Marshall with 12. Marshall made 4-of-5 3-point shots, a welcome sign heading into a road game at Maryland.
“Hannah got off to a nice start for us, shot the ball really well,” Bluder said. “There was maybe a little more spring in her step tonight. Nine rebounds is good. She didn’t back down from anybody. She worked hard on defense down there. I mean they’re pretty physical inside, and she worked hard on that. But obviously I just thought she ran the floor harder tonight.”
Stuelke was primarily responsible for Northwestern center Caileigh Walsh fouling out in the third quarter.
Iowa shot 56 percent from the field, 46 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent from the free-throw line.
“We shot the ball pretty well in all three areas,” Bluder said.
More pleasing for the coach was the plus-12 rebounding margin. Stuelke had nine and Syd Affolter had seven.
“We did better on the glass,” Clark said. “Obviously that’s been a problem for us the last two games and I felt like our offense was just kind of flowing better. It was great to see Gabbie makes a couple threes. Kate made a couple threes. That’s huge for us. Going forward we’re going to need multiple people scoring in double figures to get the results we really want.”
Iowa’s five turnovers was a season low.
Iowa improved to 20-2 overall and 9-1 in Big Ten play. Indiana won Wednesday to keep pace and Ohio State plays on Thursday.
Clark was asked about the upcoming game at Maryland Saturday.
“I think this was like a game to kind of prepare us for that,” she said. “They play a little bit of zone defense as well, very similar to Northwestern’s zone and man. So this is a good way to prepare for that.
“Iowa and Maryland have always had a little bit of a rivalry even before I got here. So many good battles. Maryland has always had a ton of talent. Brenda’s (Frese) done a great job of coaching them, and I think we’re just excited. It’s a single play, and it’s on the road; it’s one we really need to get and I guess our focus just moves there after we get home tonight.”