By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa senior forward Hannah Stuelke entered Saturday’s game against Lindenwood in not necessarily a scoring slump, but she had only combined to score 13 points in the last two games.

Against Lindenwood, she had more points than that by halftime.

Stuelke, a 6-foot-2 native of Cedar Rapids, scored a season-high 31 points, including 17 in the first half, as No. 11 Iowa bounced back from its first loss of the season at Iowa State this past Wednesday by crushing Lindenwood 102-68 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It marked the third time this season that Iowa has scored at least 100 points in a game.

Stuelke’s previous high for points this season was 20 in the season opener against Southern.

“We were a bit salty so we got after it in practice and I thought it showed in the game,” Stuelke said on the Learfield post-game radio show.

Stuelke entered Saturday’s game averaging a respectable 11.3 points per content, but also with more than 1,200 career points and the potential to go off at any time as a scorer, considering her career-high for points is 47, which she scored against Penn State as a sophomore in 2024.

“When she came out one time I just reminded her, I said, ‘that’s who you are,”‘ said Iowa head coach Jan Jensen. “And even though they weren’t as big, Hannah has done that the last three or four years against some bigger people with those putbacks and kind of absorbing the contact.

“So it was nice to see, and I hope she can draw on that.

Stuelke also did her usual work on the boards, finishing with six rebounds, and she had three assists as Iowa improved to 10-1 on the season.

Stuelke had extra incentive to play well in Saturday’s game with her aunt having sung the National Anthem prior to tipoff.

“She’s very talented,” Stuelke said in the post-game press conference. “I’m glad that she got the opportunity to sing. And, I guess, she should sing at all the games.”

Stuelke was among four Iowa players to score in double figures in Saturday’s win. Sophomore center Ava Heiden scored 14 points, while freshman center Layla Hays an freshman forward Journey Houston came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The 6-4 Heiden made all seven of her shots from the field.

Iowa had a 36-15 advantage in bench points, a 27-11 advantage in points off turnovers, a 27-10 advantage in fastbreak points and a 40-25 advantage on the boards.

Iowa also finished with 31 assists and just 10 turnovers.

The Hawkeyes now have a week off before they face top-ranked Connecticut next Saturday in Brooklyn, New Yor.

Stuelke has played against UCONN twice as a Hawkeye and she scored 25 points in her last game against the Huskies.

“For the most part, just being ready every play; they’re going to be on us at all times,” Stuelke said of UCONN. “So just being ready for anything and being confident in our game.”

The Hawkeyes built a 20-10 lead in the first quarter, but the Lions responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, trimming the deficit to 20-16 with 31 seconds left in the quarter.

Sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow then made a layup in the closing seconds of the first quarter to give Iowa a 22-16 lead after 10 minutes.

Stuelke led Iowa with nine points in the first quarter on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.

The Hawkeyes, powered by a 14-0 scoring run, would go on expand their lead to 17 points ((49-32) in the second quarter.

Lindenwood made a layup with three seconds left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 50-34 at halftime.

Iowa shot 59 percent in the first half, making 20-0f-34 field-goal attempts..

Stuelke made 7 of 12 shots in the first half and led Iowa with 17 points.

She was the only Hawkeye to reach double figures in the first half.

Iowa had an 18-11 rebounding advantage in the first half, and a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers as Lindenwood committed 12 turnovers in the first half.

Iowa sophomore forward Teagan Mallengi played in just her fourth game this season due to health reasons on Saturday and scored five points in four minutes off the bench.

However, Iowa sophomore forward Emely Rodriguez missed her fifth straight game due to an injury.