Statement made: Hawkeyes knock off #8 Maryland behind 70 from Clark & Czinano
The Maryland Terrapins came into Carver-Hawkeye Arena having won 11 of their last 12 games. Their defense was allowing just 62.0 points per game over their last five games. It didn’t matter. Lisa Bluder’s Hawkeyes came out and punched them in the mouth. The Terps staggered from the hit and never fully recovered.
They set the tone early with over 10,600 in attendance and many more watching on ESPN. Iowa scored 56 first half points and cruised to a 96-82 victory on Thursday night. The win snapped a four game skid against the Terps.
“Anytime you can set the tone early on your home court, it’s hard to battle back when you’re the road team,” said Lisa Bluder. “The first half was spectacular…some of Caitlin’s shots were crazy, but we got Monika some really high percentage shots.”
Maryland got off the a 4/17 shooting start from the floor, while the Hawkeyes were clicking early offensively. Back-to-back baskets from Hannah Stuelke, including a transition layup off a pass from Caitlin Clark had the crowd in a frenzy. It capped a 10-2 run and HC Brenda Frese took a timeout with the Terps trailing 19-8.
The Hawkeyes led 29-18 after the first quarter, but the show was only just beginning. Caitlin Clark drew a foul on a three-pointer and knocked down the shot to put Iowa up 35-22. She followed it up with another three-pointer, while a Gabbie Marshall steal led to a Monika Czinano basket on the other end. Once again, Brenda Frese needed a timeout with Iowa’s lead up to 40-24.
“When we got into our transition offense, they really struggled to stop us, no matter what it was,” said Caitlin Clark. “Whether we were hitting threes or it was Monika inside, I know Kate got a layup off a fast break. Sydney Affolter comes in and has two really good drives to the rim. Hannah’s out running the court.”
It didn’t really matter what the Terrapins did, Iowa was getting baskets. Caitlin Clark was 4/5 from behind the arc in the second quarter and finished the first half with 24 points on 9/11 shooting. Monika Czinano added 18 points on 9/11 shooting. The Hawkeyes went into the locker room with a 56-38 lead.
A basket by Czinano out of the break gave Iowa their largest lead of the game at 58-38, but Maryland was able to chip away at the lead over the next four minutes. The Terps went on a 14-4 run to cut the lead down to 62-52 and it was due in large part to four Iowa turnovers, as well as three Maryland second chance baskets.
“We talked about it at halftime, just us players, like, we know they’re going to make a run as the number eight team in the country,” said Clark. “They were going to battle, they were going to fight. I didn’t think we had the best start to the third quarter, but we weathered that.”
Late in the quarter, Caitlin Clark hit a three-pointer, gave a little shrug to the crowd and then assisted Hannah Stuelke in transition for a basket after the defense made a stop. The short 5-0 run got the Iowa lead up to 73-57 and again, Maryland took a timeout.
“We never got frazzled when they went on a run,” said Clark. “When you’re able to weather the storm of a really good team, I think that just shows the maturity of the group that we have. I’m proud of us for that.”
In the fourth quarter, the lead was never really in danger. It got down to ten with 4:17 to play, but a Molly Davis three-pointer with 2:26 to go made it 90-76. That was the dagger and Iowa picked up the 96-82 win. It is their third win against a top ten team this season. Still, there is room to improve says Clark.
“I still think we gave up too many points. I thought we fouled a little too much, but our offense, when it flows like that, that’s pretty good. There’s always room to improve. We have practice tomorrow and there’s a lot of stuff on film that shows ways to improve.”
“I think we can get even better,” said Bluder despite her team winning 13 of their last 14 games.
Caitlin Clark herself had another National Player of the Year worthy performance. She finished with 42 points on 13/19 shooting, including six three-pointers. It was her sixth 40-point game over her career. She also added seven rebounds and eight assists.
“How you cannot say Caitlin Clark is not the National Player of the Year, I don’t know how that you can say she is not,” said Bluder. “She was unbelievable tonight.”
“As long as my team wins, all that (talk) takes care of itself…it’s not something I think about every day, but that is a huge honor,” said Clark. “I don’t brush it off. It is something you should be proud of, but that’s not the reason you play the game of basketball. I play it because I love it.”
Monika Czinano showed her All-American worthy abilities with 28 points on 14/18 shooting, as well as six rebounds. Hannah Stuelke added 13 points off the bench. Kate Martin scored just three points, but had six rebounds and six assists. McKenna Warnock returned after missing the last two games with an injury. She finished with three points, six rebounds and three assists.
What they did well…
1. The Law Firm was cooking. Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano had an outstanding night shooting. More often than not, when they are going, the team is going as well. The two combined for 70 points on 27/37 (73.0%) shooting and 13 rebounds. 70 is the second most points by a duo this season in Division 1 Women’s Basketball.
2. Three-Point Defense. The Terrapins were just 2/18 from behind the arc for the game, while Abby Meyers was just 2/8 from long distance. She came into the game shooting nearly 40% from three-point range.
3. Assists. Coming into the night, Iowa was ranked 4th in the country in assists per game and for the 11th time this season the Hawkeyes had 20+ team assists. They had assists on 27 of their 37 made baskets and five players had 3+ assists for the game. Gabbie Marshall had a season-high five assists.
Up next for the Hawkeyes…
With the win, the winning streak is now seven games for the Hawkeyes. They move to 18-4 and 10-1 in Big Ten play. Up next, Iowa travels to State College for a matchup against Penn State on Sunday. The Nittany Lions are 13-10 on the season and fell 108-67 in Iowa City back on January 14th. Tipoff is set for 11:00am and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
