Hawkeyes hang on and defeat Maryland for their first win in College Park since 1992
It had been over 30 years since the Iowa women’s basketball team last left College Park, MD with a win. Lisa Bluder was coaching at Drake, Maryland was in the ACC and Caitlin Clark wouldn’t be born for another ten years. The Hawkeyes came into the night with an 0-6 record at the Xfinity Center since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten back in 2014. Tonight, the Terps rallied from an 18-point deficit in the thrid quarter and a 7-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but in the end, Caitlin Clark and Iowa emerged victorious. Clark put up a double-double 38 points and 12 assists in the 93-85 win.
“We were very resilient. I think our maturity stepped up a level tonight,” said Clark in her postgame interview with FOX. “We went to Ohio State and we fumbled the lead, so to come here, do the same, but be able to respond and withstand their punches is huge for us. I’m proud of our group.”
One of those metaphorical punches from Maryland came right after the the opening tip. Caitlin Clark hit a three on the opening possession of the game, but the Terps responded with an 11-0 run that forced Lisa Bluder to take a timeout just 2:56 into the game.
The Hawkeyes settled in on the offensive end and rode the wave of some deep three-point makes by Clark. Iowa ended the quarter on an 8-1 run, including a three-pointer from Caitlin at the horn. She finished the first ten minutes with 14 points, including 4/5 from long distance.
At one point in the first half, Iowa was just 7/16 (43.8%) on layups, with numerous misses that should have been converted. Despite the misses, the Hawkeyes were able to build a double digit lead because of the play of Caitlin Clark and Molly Davis. The two combined for 35 of Iowa’s 52 first half points, which gave them a 52-38 lead going into the locker room.
Out of halftime, the Hawkeyes picked up right where they left off in the opening 20 minutes. Caitlin assisted on back-to-back baskets and a short 6-2 spurt in the first 98 seconds extended the Iowa lead to 58-40. It appeared like Lisa Bluder’s squad was on the verge of running the Terps out of the gym.
However, over the next 4 minutes and 35 seconds, the game flipped on it’s head. All of the nightmares of losses in the Xfinity Center started roaring back. A three-pointer from Jakia Brown-Turner made it a 13-0 Maryland run and quickly cut the Iowa lead to 58-53. On the ensuing Iowa possession, Caitlin Clark buried a three-pointer to make it 61-53, but the Terps ripped off another 10-0 run capped off by a layup from Brown-Turner. In the span of four minutes and 35 seconds, Maryland turned a 58-40 deficit into a 63-61 lead.
Late in the quarter, the Hawkeyes were able to restore order to the game. A second chance three-pointer from Caitlin Clark, followed by a transition basket from Hannah Stuelke pushed the lead back to a couple of possessions. Iowa ended the quarter on a 10-1 run and went to the fourth quarter with a 73-66 advantage.
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Maryland opened the final quarter with a 6-0 run, but down the stretch, Iowa made all of the winning plays. Caitlin Clark hit a three-pointer to make it 79-76, while moments later it was three-pointer from Syd Affolter that made it 84-78 Hawkeyes. Affolter finished the night with five points and six rebounds.
The dagger came with a minute to play. Off of a three-point miss from Clark, Syd Affolter pulled down an offensive rebound to extend the possession. The ball found the hands of Hannah Stuelke and she shoveled it out to Molly Davis who drilled a three to make it 89-80 with 40.2 to play. That was that. Iowa escapes with a win.
In crunch time, it was rebounding that won the Hawkeyes the game. They outrebounded the Terrapins 18-8 in the fourth quarter, including nine offensive rebounds. The Molly Davis dagger came on a possession that lasted 58 seconds and included two offensive rebounds.
Davis finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Kate Martin added a double-double 15 points and ten rebounds. Caitlin Clark’s 38 points puts her 66 points shy of passing Kelsey Plum for the NCAA scoring record.
On the night, Iowa shot 36/78 (46.2%) from the floor, including 12 made three-pointers. They outrebounded Maryland 48-32, pulling down 31/38 (81.6%) defensive rebounds and 17/42 (40.5%) offensive rebounds. After turning it over five times in the opening quarter, they had 18 assists to nine turnovers over the last 30 minutes.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will return to Iowa City for a matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions on February 8th. Tipoff is set for 8:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.
