ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 21 University of Iowa basketball fell to No. 6 Michigan, 98-90, on Sunday night inside the Crisler Center.
“I am proud of our team,” said P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Coach Lisa Bluder. “We come here and they are the sixth-ranked team in the country and have seven in a row. We are down two starters, and I know they are down one, but we are down two starters. One of our best three-point shooters and our best defender. We came out and battled until the very end. I thought our team did a great job handling this, and now we are ready to move on.”
Sophomore Caitlin Clark recorded her 12th double-double of the season, registering her third 40-point game with a career-high 46 points and dishing out 10 assists. Clark recorded 33 of her 46 points in the second half, making four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone.
“We have faced a lot of adversity in the past couple of weeks,” said Clark “I think a lot of people stepped up tonight. We gave it everything we had. That is the sixth ranked team in the country, and one of the best players in the country, and one of the best defensive teams in the country. To lose by eight on their home court with seven available players, I think that’s pretty promising.”
A step back jumper from Clark put the Hawkeyes on the board in the first quarter, and a layup from redshirt junior Kate Martin put the Hawkeyes within six of the Wolverines. Martin led the team with seven points and pulled down three rebounds.
Freshman Sydney Affolter opened the second period with a 3-pointer to bring Iowa within seven. Affolter scored seven points and pulled down a career-high four offensive rebounds. The Hawkeyes outscored the Wolverines, 7-2, in the last two minutes of the half to pull within 12 at the half. Clark recorded eight points and dished out three assists. Senior Monika Czinano scored seven points going 3-4 from the field.
The Hawkeyes had a slow start to the third quarter but picked up momentum late, scoring 13 points in the last two minutes with contributions from Clark, Czinano, and a 3-point shot from senior Tomi Taiwo. Five players contributed in the third quarter, forcing four Michigan turnovers.
Iowa outscored Michigan, 36-28, in the fourth quarter. Clark scored 25 points in the fourth alone, shooting 80 percent from the field. Addison O’Grady pulled down an offensive rebound and drew the foul on a second-chance layup to bring Iowa within five. The freshman scored seven points in the fourth.
“We didn’t want to end the game in a bad way,” said Clark. “Why not go off firing and that’s what I did. I feel like I played really loose the fourth quarter, and I started launching the ball. We just kept saying fight, fight, fight. We wanted to end this the right way, but kind of got beat on the boards in the first half.”
NOTES
•Sophomore Caitlin Clark registered her third 40-point game, tallying a career-best 46 points. She netted 33 of her 46 points in the second half.
•Clark recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 46 points and 10 assists. She added four rebounds and three steals on the day.
•Three Hawkeyes scored in double figures, including Clark (46), senior Monika Czinano (13) and redshirt junior Kate Martin (11).
•Freshman Sydney Affolter pulled down a career-high four offensive rebounds. Affolter added seven points and six rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return home to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 9 hosting Minnesota. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed live on B1G+ – a paid subscription service. Tickets can be purchased at Hawkeyesports.com.