To this point, Iowa has faced one of the toughest schedules in basketball. The Hawkeyes faced current #6 UConn on a neutral court, and played current #8 North Carolina State and #10 Iowa State at home. The Hawks have also played #24 Kansas State and a decent Drake team on the road, as well as a decent Oregon State team on a neutral court.
But now Iowa’s schedule starts to lighten up. The Hawks likely won’t face another ranked team until early January. In between, they play five games against unranked opposition— three in conference and two final non-conference games.
That journey started tonight with Minnesota. The Gophers came in at 5-4, but that record didn’t tell the full story. The Gophers are extremely young, with several promising freshman led by Mara Braun, who averages nearly 20 points per game. Minnesota is actually somewhat similar to Iowa from two years ago: a young offensive-minded team with a star guard who decided to stay home. This was a game Iowa was certainly favored in, but one that could easily get interesting if Iowa didn’t commit on defense or if shots weren’t falling.
Recap
Iowa started off the game well on both ends, jumping out to an 8-0 victory. But then Iowa lost focus defensively, and Minnesota narrowed the lead to 12-11. The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the way, but Iowa had the slightly better offense and led 24-18 after one.
Iowa came out firing in the second quarter and quickly pushed the lead to 36-24. After a timeout, Iowa kept pushing and built the lead to 17 points. Then Minnesota’s offense finally got going again, hitting a few threes and getting other open shots. That surge helped Minnesota cut into Iowa’s lead, but the Hawks still led 49-37 at the half. Caitlin Clark had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the first half.
Iowa came out hot to start the third quarter and pushed its lead to 56-37. Iowa built the lead as high as 21 points, but then Kate Martin went down with an injury and Iowa lost momentum. The Gophers went on a run to end the quarter and cut Iowa’s lead as low as 11 points, before Iowa got a late free throw to lead 66-54 heading to the fourth quarter. Iowa quickly pushed the lead back to 20 early in the fourth quarter, then coasted home the rest of the way. Iowa ultimately won 87-64.
Box Score
Clark led Iowa with a near triple-double—she had 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. She probably would’ve gotten that last assist if she played the game’s final few minutes, but Iowa was winning comfortably, and there was no reason to risk another injury.
Monika Czinano had another big game, scoring 22 points on 11/17 shooting. McKenna Warnock was the last Hawkeye in double-figures with 12 points and 10 rebounds. A box score for the game is here.
Martin Injury
Martin’s third quarter injury appeared to be to her right ankle or possibly her shin. She was helped off the floor and couldn’t put any pressure on her right foot. Martin actually hurt an ankle celebrating the win against Iowa State, though she was able to practice on it leading up to this game. It’s not clear if she might’ve tweaked that injury or if this injury is separate.
Losing Martin for a significant time would obviously be a big loss for Iowa. Thus far, she’s been the team’s X-factor. When she’s played well, Iowa beat Iowa State and played UConn right to the wire. When she played poorly, Iowa lost to North Carolina State and Kansas State. Iowa needs her to be an offensive option so they don't have to rely on Clark and Czinano quite as much.
If Martin is out for a while, Iowa will likely use several different lineups to fill her minutes. One option is to play a slightly smaller lineup with Molly Davis and Gabbie Marshall along with Clark. Iowa could also go bigger and play McKenna Warnock at the 3 with Hannah Stuelke at the 4 like they did briefly early in the season.
But the player who will likely see her minutes go up the most is Sydney Affolter. Affolter has played in 9 of 10 games this season, with most of her time coming behind Martin at the 3. Affolter is still very raw offensively, but has done well defensively and in rebounding so far this season. Hopefully she can step up if Martin is out for an extended period.
Bluder Winningest Coach in Big Ten Regular Season Games
With tonight’s victory Coach Lisa Bluder became the winningest coach in Big Ten regular season games, surpassing former Iowa (and Rutgers) coach C. Vivian Stringer. This victory was Bluder's 234th in regular season Big Ten games.
The achievement shows how good and how consistent Bluder has been in her 23 years at Iowa. It also shows how fortunate that Iowa women’s basketball has been. Bluder and Stringer are among the best coaches in women’s basketball history -- and Iowa fans have been able to see them for a combined 35 years at Iowa so far.
Next Up
Iowa returns to action next Sunday, December 18th at home against Northern Iowa. The game is at 2 PM CT and will be streamed on BTN+ ($). The Panthers are 5-3 on the season, including a narrow 88-85 loss to Iowa State in Cedar Falls.
