AMES, Iowa – The fourth-ranked Iowa women’s basketball team downed Iowa State, 67-58, in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series inside a sold-out Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday night. Iowa improved to 9-1 on the season.
The in-state rivalry game was tied nine different times throughout the matchup with 12 lead changes. The Hawkeyes held the lead for 29:01 compared to Iowa State’s 2:50.
All-American Caitlin Clark registered a game-high 35 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. The West Des Moines, Iowa, native registered her 3,000th career point to become the first Hawkeye to achieve this feat.
The Hawkeyes led the Cyclones by a triple, 21-18, after the first quarter. Clark led all scoring with 12 points and five rebounds. The Hawkeyes were scrapy in the first half grabbing 22 rebounds and three steals to go into the second half all tied at 34 in a hostile environment.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Hawkeyes led by one possession, 48-45, after the third. The Cyclones went on an 8-0 in the midst of the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead. It was short lived after junior Sydney Affolter sunk two free-throws to give the Hawkeyes the lead the rest of the way.
Kate Martin played huge minutes for the Hawkeyes tallying 16 points, four rebounds, three steals, and a block for the Hawkeyes.
POSTGAME NOTES
– National Player of the Year candidate, Caitlin Clark, surpassed 3,000 career points.
-Clark is the only player in division one men’s or women’s basketball history with 3,000+ points, 750+ rebounds and 750+ assists.
– Clark is the third Big Ten and 15th NCAA women’s basketball player to eclipse 3,000 points in a career.
– Kate Martin is the first Iowa women’s basketball player to ever amass 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 400+ assists, 120+ steals, and 60+ blocks in a career.
– Martin has scored 10+ points in five out of her last six games.
– Hannah Stuelke registered five points and six rebounds in her return since sitting out the last three games due to a lower leg injury.
– Clark is now the all-time leader in 30+ point performances in men’s and women’s college basketball over the last 25 seasons. (41)
– Iowa is 3-1 in its last four trips to Hilton, and the win marks the third time a Hawkeye squad has won in Ames since Bill Fennelly took over the ISU program in 1995.
– The Hawkeyes have beaten the Cyclones in seven out of the last eight matchups.
– Iowa is currently riding a six-game winning streak.
– Iowa has beaten Drake, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa in the same season 11 times in the Lisa Bluder era.
– Iowa is off to its best start since the 2017-18 season. (9-1)
– Clark kept her alive streak of 68 consecutive games making a 3-point basket. (NCAA best)
– Clark took 17 field goals in the first half which marks a career-high.
– Clark notched her 46th career game with 25+ points, 5+ assists, 5+ rebounds. (NCAA best)
QUOTING SUE P. BECKWITH, MD, HEAD COACH LISA BLUDER
“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. They slowed the ball down and did a good job at that, but our defense in the second half was really good, especially in the fourth quarter after they took the lead. Half time we talked about three-point defense, and they didn’t have a single three in the second half.”
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UP NEXT
The fourth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes will hit the road for its Big Ten opener at Wisconsin on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. inside a sold-out Kohl Center. The game will broadcast on BTN and the Hawkeye Radio Network.