Hear from Sydney Affolter, Hannah Stuelke and Lisa Bluder after Iowa's win at Wisconsin
Hear from Sydney Affolter, Hannah Stuelke and Lisa Bluder after Iowa's 87-65 win at Wisconsin.
MADISON, Wis. – They came in droves the likes of which hadn't been seen in more than 20 years, a perfect mix of yellow and red forming in front of the Kohl Center about five hours before kickoff. Many were there to see Iowa's basketball legend in person. The home team's supporters were looking for an exciting surprise.
Wisconsin hosted a sold-out women's basketball tournament for the first time since 2002 with Iowa's Caitlin Clark in town and did its best to make the crowd a factor all afternoon long. Drowning out the Hawkeye faithful ultimately proved a futile task. Clark – with her 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists – kept Iowa fans cheering from before the game to after.
Despite a decent opening run by the Badgers, No. 3 Iowa ultimately pulled away to an 87-65 win on Sunday afternoon in front of a sizable crowd of 14,252 spectators. The Hawkeyes' win was the 28th in a row in the series since February 2007.
“It used to be something you only dreamed about,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said of the crowd, “and now it happens regularly. Everywhere we go we're kind of used to it now. We really would be disappointed if we went somewhere and there were only a thousand people there.
Considering most Iowa-Wisconsin matchups lose their entire lives by halftime, the Badgers are actually off to a strong start to stay within striking distance of this women's basketball behemoth. Wisconsin held the lead with 7:36 remaining in the second quarter and up until that point had prevented Clark from pulling away to an insurmountable lead.
However, she wouldn't stay quiet forever.
Clark's first three-pointer of the day came as the shot clock and game clock expired before halftime – a Jordan-style shrug right in front of the Wisconsin bench. Considering Iowa missed its first eight 3-point attempts, the two Gabbie Marshall and Clark drilled just before halftime provided the perfect foray into familiar territory.
“It just helped us a lot mentally,” said Bluder. “Our timing management was also really good in the last minute (of the first half).”
The 43-33 lead at halftime grew to as many as 20 in the third quarter and remained at that level for much of the rest of the game. The only remaining drama revolved around Clark's continued climb up the scoring ladder. She entered needing 27 points to pass basketball greats Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore, Chamique Holdsclaw and Cheryl Miller for 10th place on the all-time scoring list.
She completed the task as only Clark could, swinging a deep trey with ease as chants of “Let's go Hawks” soothed this superstar. There was no response from those in red.
Clark finally checked out with 1:!3 left to thunderous applause – shortly after he hit the pitch hard in the final minutes. Her day ended immediately afterward.
“You never want anyone to get hurt,” said Bluder, who attributed Clark’s absence from the media after the game to her not feeling well. “I want to go back and watch the film about it. She gets beaten up all the time and it's so mentally hard to take it. She does it night after night. I have sympathy for her. You never want any player to get it.” It hurts, but it can happen in the first or last minutes. If we have a lead, I probably need to be more aware of it.”
In addition to more Clark dominance, there was also a promising performance for the Hawkeyes. Although Hannah Stuelke came off the bench again like she did on Wednesday at Iowa State, the successful sophomore appears to be over the injury she suffered two weeks ago in Florida.
Stuelke finished the game with 21 points and joined Clark in scoring 15 consecutive Iowa points in the second quarter. Stuelke's performance at the line was also encouraging, going 5 of 8. The Hawkeyes will have to bring out all their weapons when Big Ten play resumes at the end of the month. Bringing Stülke back to her expected level is a promising sign.
“It was really nice to be back to myself today,” said Stuelke. “I was a bit depressed (after being injured) and we talked about it. Coach really helped me find myself again, which was really helpful. I love her for that. But it felt great to be back out there today and jumping high.”
Iowa spent Sunday flying high in a crowded house. While environments like these can shock other women's basketball teams – even good ones – the spotlight has normalized strong performances for the Hawkeyes.
Dargan Southard is a sports trends reporter who covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.