(Iowa City, IA) – In the last game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa seniors, the Hawkeyes were able to slide past West Virginia winning 64-54. This marked one of the lowest-scoring games of the year for Iowa.
Looking inside the game, West Virginia opened up the final five minutes of the fourth quarter with a large 10-0 run to tie things up. Head Coach Lisa Bluder went on to call a timeout and Iowa’s Sydney Affolter got fouled and was sent to the line for two shots, both of which fell in as Iowa captured the lead once again. The Mountaineers continued to tie things up, but Iowa was able to hold down the fort in the final two minutes, capturing a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. Head Coach Lisa Bluder knew that this game was not going to be an easy one.
The Hawkeyes only had four players score in the game. Iowa was led on the night by All-American Caitlin Clark who had 32 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Clark broke another record tonight, beating Kelsey Plum once again for the single-season scoring record. She has now scored 20+ points in 120 of 135 total games which mark the most in program history. While the road still continues to wind ahead for Clark, she is taking in every moment of the tournament.
Sitting right alongside Clark was Sydney Affolter who shot 4-6 from the field while putting down 13 points and hauling in seven boards. Right alongside Affolter was Hannah Stuelke who had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the only Hawkeyes double-double. Stuelke also had an impressive defensive game with a career-high four blocks on the night. Kate Martin was the only other scorer for the Hawkeyes who had seven points and 10 rebounds. As a whole, Iowa only had 15 total turnovers, one of the best marks against a West Virginia opponent all season. Head Coach Lisa Bluder was ecstatic about how her girls played defensively.
On the opposite end, West Virginia was led on the night by Ja’Naiya Quinerly who shot 6-14 from the field while knocking down 15 points and swiping away three steals. Sitting right behind Quinerly was Kyah Watson who had 13 points and seven boards while going just 5-12 from the field. The last double-digit scorer was Jayla Hemingway who went just 3-15 from the field while putting down eight points and snagged eight rebounds.
The difference in this game came down to free throws. Iowa went to the line for 30 attempts, knocking down 25 on the night. West Virginia went to the line just shooting 3-5 from the charity stripe. West Virginia was able to hold on in the game with their bench players with an 18-0 scoring advantage and held Iowa to just four players scoring on the night.
Iowa led in rebounds 42-35 while West Virginia led in forced turnovers 15-9 and in fast break points 13-6.
The Hawkeyes now jump into Sweet 16 play for the fourth time since 2019 and their fifth under Bluder. They’ll take on Colorado this Saturday, March 30th at 2:30 p.m.
