WBB Notebook: NCAA Tournament First Round

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team heads to the NCAA Tournament First Round on Sunday, March 21 as the Hawkeyes take on 12-seed Central Michigan. Tipoff is set 11 a.m. (CT) on ESPN.

WATCH/FOLLOW ALONG

• Saturday’s contest will be aired live on ESPN. Eric Frede and Tamika Catchings are on the call.
• Live stats are available on the women’s basketball schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.

AUDIO COVERAGE

• Rob Brooks and Jamie Cavey Lang will call the action on the Hawkeye Radio Network. A link to the broadcast is available on the women’s basketball schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
• Brooks is in his fifth year as the play-by-play announcer for the Iowa women’s basketball team. He has been Iowa football’s sideline reporter since 2004. He has called seven different Iowa sports on radio or television.
• Lang is in her fifth year as Iowa’s color commentator. She lettered at Iowa from 2002-05. Lang finished her Hawkeye career with 1,265 points and 506 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Big Ten selection.

HAWKEYES AT THE NCAA TOURNEY

• Iowa has made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances with 15 under the guidance of P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Coach Lisa Bluder.
• The Hawkeyes are 12-7 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• In the Hawkeyes’ last NCAA appearance (2019), they defeated Mercer, Missouri, and North Carolina State to advance to the Elite Eight, losing to the 2019 NCAA Tournament Champions, Baylor.

HAWKEYES ON THE SEASON

• Iowa is 18-9 on the season, winning six of its last eight contests.
• Freshman Caitlin Clark leads the Hawkeyes, averaging 26.7 points. Junior Monika Czinano and sophomore McKenna Warnock follow, averaging 19.5 and 11.8 points per game, respectively.
• Warnock leads the Hawkeyes, averaging 8.0 rebounds per game, while Clark and Czinano follow with 5.9 apiece.
• Sophomore Gabbie Marshall leads Iowa with 51 steals. Redshirt sophomore Kate Martin and Clark follow on the season with 34 and 33 steals, respectively.
• Clark recorded nine 3-pointers at Maryland (Feb. 23) — the most from a Hawkeye against a Big Ten opponent since Melissa Dixon recorded nine at Northwestern on Jan. 29, 2015.
• The Hawkeyes upset No. 12 Michigan, 89-67, on Feb. 25 — the largest scoring margin over a ranked opponent since the Hawkeyes’ 1993 Final Four team beat No. 4 Penn State, 84-59.

B1G TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP

• The Hawkeyes defeated Purdue (83-72), No. 19/23 Rutgers (73-62), and Michigan State (87-72) to make the Big Ten Tournament Championship game. Iowa fell to No. 7/8 Maryland, 84-104.
• Freshman Caitlin Clark averaged 22.3 points, 9.3 assists, and five rebounds, junior Monika Czinano averaged 26. 8 points and 6.8 rebounds, and sophomore McKenna Warnock averaged 9.3 rebounds and registered consecutive double-doubles in the semifinal and championship games.
• Sophomore Gabbie Marshall had a career-night in the quarterfinals against No.19/23 Rutgers, tallying 27 points, seven 3-pointers made, 10 field goals made, and seven rebounds to set career highs.

YOU SERIOUS, CLARK?

• Big Ten Freshman of the Year Caitlin Clark has registered 24 20-plus point games this season, including 11 30-plus point games.
• The West Des Moines, Iowa, native leads the country in points per game (26.7), total assists (195), and 3-pointers made (103). She ranks second in assists per game (7.2) and 3-pointers per game (3.81), ranks 29th in free-throw percentage (86.0), and 38th in 3-point percentage (40.6).
• Clark is one of 13 women’s basketball players to record a triple-double this season, posting 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists against Western Illinois (Dec. 22, 2020). Clark is the first Hawkeye to reach the accomplishment since Sam Logic against Baylor (March 27, 2015) and marks the 10th triple-double in program history, which tied the second-most in the NCAA.
• Clark’s 720 points on the season are the third most in a single season by a Hawkeye. Megan Gustafson ‘s junior (823) and senior (1,001) seasons rank above her. Gustafson’s junior season included 32 games and her senior season had 36 games — Clark has played 27 games.
• Her 193 assists ranks fifth all-time at Iowa for a single season.
• Clark earned unanimous first team All-Big Ten and Big Ten-All-Freshman team honors.
• Clark is a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award that goes to the best guard in the country.

UNSTOPPABLE MONIKA

• Junior Monika Czinano is leading the country in field goal percentage (, making 2330 of 339 shots attempted this season.
• Czinano has tallied 13 games shooting 70 percent or better, including six games over 87.5 percent.
• Czinano scored 28 points at No. 22/23 Northwestern (Jan. 9), shooting 13 of 14 from the field. Czinano’s field goal percentage (.929) is a Big Ten Record with a minimum of 12 attempts in a Big Ten contest, shooting 13-of-14 against the Wildcats. On three occasions, a Big Ten women’s basketball player has made 12 of 13 (.917) — the last being Indiana’s Quacy Barnes on Feb. 22, 1998 against Michigan State.
• Czinano has shot one perfect game this season, making all eight shots she took at Maryland (Feb. 23).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE, WARNOCK’S TROUBLE

• Sophomore McKenna Warnock has tallied six double-doubles this season, making eight in her career.
• Warnock has registered consecutive double-doubles, leading up to the NCAA Tournament. Her two-game streak includes 17 points and 11 rebounds against Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals and 10 points and 10 rebounds against No. 7/8 Maryland in the championship game.

THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE BUBBLE

• Four Hawkeyes have recorded double-doubles this season, including freshman Caitlin Clark (9), sophomore McKenna Warnock (6), junior Monika Czinano (2), and redshirt sophomore Kate Martin (1).
• Clark has recorded eight double-doubles on the season, including a triple-double against Western Illinois (Dec. 22). She recorded the other seven against Drake (Dec. 2), Minnesota (Jan. 6), at Ohio State (Jan. 13), at Minnesota (Jan. 31), at Wisconsin (Feb. 28), and against Rutgers (March 11). Clark’s most recent double-double was accomplished with 21 points and 10 assists against Rutgers in the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
• Czinano recorded double-doubles in both matchups against Northwestern this season. In the first meeting (Jan. 9), Czinano posted 28 points and 12 rebounds. On the Hawkeyes’ home court (Jan. 28), Czinano recorded a career-high 34 points and added 11 rebounds.
• Martin recorded her first-career double-double against Penn State, recording 19 points and 11 assists.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN

• Central Michigan is 18-8 on the season, coming off five consecutive wins and the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship title.
• As a team, Central Michigan is ranked third in 3-pointers made (260) and fourth in 3-pointers per game (10.0). Sophomore guard Molly Davis leads the Chippewas with 75 made 3-pointers on the season, ranking ninth in the NCAA.
• Senior guard Micaela Kelly leads Central Michigan, averaging 23.9 points per game and ranks seventh in the NCAA. Davis follows averaging 20. 9 points per game, ranking 22nd in the nation.
• Junior center Jahari Smith averages 7.4 rebounds to lead the Chippewas and redshirt sophomore guard Anika Weekes follows with 5.8 rebounds per game.
• Kelly has 112 assists on the season, averaging 4.3 per game and Davis follows with 98 assists (3.8 apg).

THE SERIES

• The two teams met once in 2010-11. Iowa won, 90-79, inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.