IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team opened the season with a 108-29, victory in its exhibition game over Nebraska-Kearney on Friday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Freshman Hannah Stuelke made a statement in her debut, going 8-10 from the field to finish with 18 points and six rebounds. The Cedar Rapids native was one of three players to reach double digits. Monika Czinano went a perfect 7-7 from the field, finishing with 16 points after only playing 14 minutes as well as her All-American teammate, Cailtin Clark, scored 18 points and dished eight assists.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter, shooting 75% from the field on 16 attempts. Iowa kept the momentum in the second, going on a 22-0 scoring run to take a 61-15 lead at half.
Iowa held the Lopers to single digits in three of the four quarters. All 13 Hawkeyes that played tonight entered the scoring column. It was the lowest point total UNK has been held to by a Division I team in the exhibition era.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Clark and Czinano combined for 34 points in 32 minutes of total action.
• Czinano was super-efficient on the low block scoring 16 points, shooting 7-of-7 from the floor. She has led the nation the two years in field goal percentage.
• Hannah Stuelke was the first freshman off the bench for Iowa. She registered double-figures with 18 points, tying Clark for the team-high.
QUOTING P. SUE BECKWITH, MD, HEAD COACH LISA BLUDER
“It just feels good to get out and play. I was really happy at the first time out. I thought our execution was good, and we valued the ball. We had great some really good passing and assists as well as owning the paint. I’m really happy for these guys and Hannah, an Iowa kid to get out there and play. I think everybody can see how explosive she’s going to be and how much fun she’s going to be to watch over the next couple of years. I was also thrilled with Molly’s play, and you can just see how much that depth is going to help us at point guard this year. So, a lot of good things tonight, and now we have a week to go to back to work before we play again a week from Monday.”
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UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Nov. 7, hosting Southern for its regular season opener at 8:31 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside CHA. The game will air on B1G+ (subscription) and on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2022-23 season are available now at hawkeyesports.com. Any ticket related questions may be directed to the Iowa Hawkeyes Athletic Ticket Office via email at Tickets@HawkeyeSports.com or by phone at 1-800 IA-HAWKS.