(Iowa City, IA)- In the home of women’s basketball in 2023, the #4 Iowa Hawkeyes hosted unranked Loyola of Chicago for a non-conference matchup before Christmas. If you’re a Hawkeye fan you were unimpressed by the action in the first half but Ramblers fans loved how their frisky team hung with the usually high-powered offense and even had a lead of seven at one point before halftime. At that point, Iowa would only be leading the unranked squad by five points, 51-46. Coach Lisa Bluder cooked up something at halftime though as the Hawks outscored Loyola 46-23 in the second half, including Clark going 6 for 8 shooting with 16 points in the third quarter, for the Christmas win, 98 to 69, as they move to 12-1 on the year.
The Hawkeyes would be led in scoring by none other than the potential WNBA 1st overall pick Caitlin Clark as she notched her 13th triple-double with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists with Indiana Fever coaches in attendance. Iowa would also get help from Kate Martin with 19 points and 4 rebounds while Hannah Stuelke would make the most of her return to the starting lineup with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
The Ramblers had three players notch triple-digit points on the night led by Emma Nolan who put up 15 points and 12 points by Alyssa Fisher.
The Iowa Women’s basketball returns to action on Saturday, December 30th as they host a Big 10 opponent in the unranked Minnesota Golden Gophers with tip-off at 1:00 pm CT.
Information obtained from University of Iowa Athletics and HawkCentral.com
