IOWA CITY, Iowa – No. 25 University of Iowa’s women’s basketball team had eight players score in its, 82-56, win against the Fighting Illini on Sunday inside Carver Hawkeye Arena. Senior Monika Czinano led the Hawkeyes, scoring 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, while senior Tomi Taiwo scored a career-high 14 points. Sophomore Caitlin Clark tallied 18 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore Kylie Feuerbach scored 10 points to assist in Iowa’s 26-point win.
“We came in here and we took care of business today and that’s what we want to do,” said P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Coach Lisa Bluder. “We owned the paint. I love that paint number — 54 points to 16. I love that we have four people in double figures — two of them coming off the bench in Tomi (Taiwo) and Kylie (Feuerbach) both played really well coming off the bench today. To not have to play anybody over 30 minutes was important because we’re going to be on the road tomorrow and have one prep day for Penn State. It’s a lot so we were trying to manage minutes today and glad we were able to do that.”
The Hawkeyes forced six turnovers, holding Illinois to five points in the first quarter, which is the lowest number of points scored by an opponent in the first quarter this season. Czinano scored 10 of Iowa’s 19 points, and redshirt junior Kate Martin pulled down three rebounds.
Five players scored four or more points in the second quarter, scoring 20 of their 22 points from in the paint. Iowa shot 71.4 percent from the field with Taiwo going 3-for-3. Junior Mckenna Warnock grabbed a defensive rebound to allow Martin a jumper in the last seconds of the half to give Iowa a, 41-19, lead.
Clark opened the third quarter scoring eight points in the first two minutes, making back-to-back 3-pointers. Iowa went on a 12-point run to increase the lead to 33. Czinano scored seven points, and junior Gabbie Marshall recorded three steals, registering back-to-back games with three-plus steals.
Ten of Iowa’s 15 points in the fourth quarter were from the bench to give Iowa the conference win. Taiwo scored six of her 14 points in the final 10 minutes.
NOTES
- Four Hawkeyes scored in double-figures, including senior Monika Czinano (21), sophomore Caitlin Clark (18), senior Tomi Taiwo (14) and sophomore Kylie Feuerbach (10).
- Taiwo scores a career best 14 points, shooting 85.7 percent from the field, making a career-high five buckets.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to face Penn State inside Bryce Jordan Center. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. (CT) and will air live on the B1G Network.