Thanksgiving is a holiday intended to be spent with family. Unless you’re a college basketball player. Then it’s usually about traveling to some warm location to play a couple of tournament games in front of half-filled arenas.
For Iowa women’s basketball this year, it meant traveling to balmy (checks notes) Portland, Oregon. While Portland may not be an ideal place to travel in late November, this tournament—the Phil Knight Classic—is actually a marquee event with some of the best women’s basketball teams in the country in attendance.
On Iowa’s side of the pool, #3 UConn soundly defeated Duke earlier on Friday. A win by Iowa over Oregon State would mean a huge matchup between UConn and Iowa on Sunday on ABC.
But first Iowa had to defeat Oregon State. The Beavers aren’t ranked, but are 4-0 in the young season, and were in the Final Four just a few years ago. Plus, Portland is less than two hours away from Oregon State’s campus, so the location wasn’t truly neutral. Would Iowa take care of business and move on to face might UConn, or would the Hawkeyes struggle in another game away from home?
Recap
The game began well for Iowa on both ends. The offense was getting open looks, and defensively Iowa forced Oregon State into long shots or turnovers. Iowa led 9-0 three and a half minutes into the game. Then Iowa’s offense bogged down a bit, especially when Caitlin Clark went to the bench for a break at the end of the quarter. Oregon State finally hit on some of its shots, meanwhile, and narrowed Iowa’s lead to 19-16 after one.
The second quarter was an offensive firefight. Offensively, Caitlin Clark was making a bunch of shots or finding Monika Czinano when she didn’t shoot. On the other end, Oregon State got to the basket well and kept making jumpers. Iowa got a few stops late, and took a 44-37 lead to halftime. Clark had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists at halftime.
The third quarter was more defensive. Iowa led by 11 for a time, but couldn’t extend the lead further. Oregon State made things a little closer before the quarter ended, and Iowa led 54-46 heading to the fourth quarter.
McKenna Warnock hit a three to open the quarter, and pushed Iowa’s lead back to 11. But then Iowa’s offense went cold again, and Oregon State closed within six at 57-51. Clark responded with an and-1 and a drop pass to Addison O’Grady to push the lead back to 11 points. Iowa finished off its victory this time, and won 73-59.
Box Score
Clark led Iowa with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Other than taking a couple ill-advised threes, she was phenomenal. Czinano had 17 points and 7 rebounds. She only scored four of those points in the second half, though, and those came in the final two minutes. McKenna Warnock was the final Hawkeye in double-figures with 12. A box score for the game is here.
Rebounding and Defense
Oregon State’s starting center was 6’9". The Beavers' backup was 6’4" and they had several other players who were tall for their respective positions. Rebounding against Oregon State was always going to be tough for Iowa. With that in mind, Iowa did well. The Hawkeyes surrendered just nine offensive rebounds, and grabbed a few crucial offensive rebounds of their own. In past years, rebounding has often been a problem for Iowa. It was good to see the Hawks rebound well against a very long team.
Apart from the second quarter, Iowa’s defense in the game was also very good. Gabbie Marshall and Molly Davis both made big plays on the perimeter, and Czinano, Warnock, and Addison O’Grady did well in stopping Oregon State’s posts.
Roster Rotation
9 players got in for Iowa in today’s game, but that number is somewhat misleading. Iowa’s starters combined to play 171 of 200 minutes. On the one hand, that was understandable. Iowa’s starters all played very well in the game. Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall in particular had arguably the best game of their respective seasons.
But Iowa can’t keep relying on the starters this much. Iowa has quality options on its bench. Those players will need to add quality contributions at some point. Iowa needs to get them comfortable being on the floor as soon as possible.
Next Up
As mentioned, Iowa returns to action on Sunday, November 27th against #3 UConn. The game will be televised on ABC and starts at 12 PM CT.
UConn is 4-0 on the season, including ranked wins over Texas and North Carolina State -- despite the fact that injuries have hit the Huskies hard so far this season. Star Paige Bueckers is out for the season and former Ohio State forward Dorka Juhasz is out for the weekend. The Huskies have also had other rotational pieces miss time.
