Fourth-ranked Iowa women set program record for most points in 115-62 victory over Evansville
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa got its transition game going, and Evansville just could not catch up in a 115-62 Hawkeye victory Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The 115 points were a school record.
“We had a really, really good first half,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “We had lots of boards and we owned the paint. Our transition game was so good because Molly (Davis) and Caitlin (Clark) kept finding teammates.”
The Hawkeyes never trailed and they put together a number of long scoring runs as the Purple Aces either turned the ball over or bricked jumpers. Keep in mind that last year Evansville finished dead last in the Missouri Valley Conference, winning only two league games, so this was not necessarily a step up in competition from Southern University on Monday.
But unlike the game against Southern, Iowa took off immediately. The Hawkeyes finished the first quarter with an 8-0 run to lead 26-7. They scored on their first six possessions of the second quarter using transition baskets, unselfish passing and a nifty post-up by Clark in which she twisted one way and then the other to find an opening for a layup.
“We felt like we were playing Iowa basketball,” Clark said of the difference between the start Monday and the start against Evansville.
Iowa forced 11 Evansville turnovers in the first half. The Purple Aces shot just 25 percent from the field as the going was tough inside against Iowa’s posts. They also made only 2-of-14 threes.
On the other hand Iowa was 22-of-36 (.611) and had 13 assists. Iowa shot 50 percent behind the arc. Three players were in double figures after one half as Iowa led 54-23. Iowa scored 20 of its 54 points off transition.
“We play fast, and we shot well,” Bluder said, explaining the point total.
It was a total performance with one little flaw. The free-throw shooting (5-of-11) was way below expectations for a team that shoots like Iowa does.
Iowa set about to remedy that statistic in the third quarter. Clark and Czinano made six consecutive free throws in one possession. Clark was fouled on a drive and Evansville’s A’Niah Griffen was called for a technical on the play. Clark made all four of her free throws and when Iowa got the ball out of bounds Czinano was fouled and swished her two. Iowa made nine in a row before a miss, and ended up making 21 of 32 foul shots for the game.
In the third quarter Iowa’s offense was just about as efficient as a knife through butter. Iowa scored in 12 out of 13 consecutive possessions. In all Iowa scored in 17 of its 20 third-quarter possessions in building an 89-46 lead. It wasn’t all the starters either, as Bluder subbed liberally. Hannah Stuelke, Addy O’Grady, Taylor McCabe, Sydney Affolter and A.J. Ediger all scored in the third period.
“We were all on the same wave length,” Czinano said.
Iowa finished with 14 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Evansville 51-23. “We showed rebounding tenacity tonight,” Czinano said.
Clark had 26 points and 12 assists. Czinano scored 23. Getting the ball in the post was a priority after Southern shut down that part of the offense in the first game and the Hawkeyes had 62 paint points. McKenna Warnock came alive with 15 points while making 6-of-7 shots and three 3-pointers. She and Hannah Stuelke led the team with eight rebounds apiece. Stuelke played just 13:39 but hit 6-of-7 shots, had a steal that she took end to end for a basket and blocked a shot.
Maybe the biggest cheer of the night came late in the game when the 5-7 Davis blocked a shot inside. “Her block was the highlight of my year,” Czinano said, laughing.
Iowa (2-0) travels to Drake (1-0) for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday. The teams didn’t play last year because of a Covid outbreak. Evansville fell to 1-1.