Hawkeyes silence Mackey Arena, defeat Purdue for a 13th straight win
For the fifth time this season, the Iowa women’s basketball team showed up to a sold out arena. Fans at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette showed up to support the Boilermakers, but it was Lisa Bluder’s Hawkeyes that came away with a 96-71 victory when the final buzzer sounded. Caitlin Clark earned her 15th career triple-double with 26 points, ten rebounds and ten assists to pace Iowa in their 13th straight win. The win streak has tied the longest one during Lisa Bluder’s tenure with the Hawkeyes.
For the second straight game, the thing to watch was the pace of play. Iowa came into the game ranked 24th in possessions per game, while Purdue ranked 190th. The Hawkeyes were able to speed up the game at different points and shot 53.2% from the floor, including 15 made three-pointers. That put the Boilermakers in a tough position with the nations 111th ranked scoring offense.
Caitlin Clark got things going from behind the arc, right off the bat, with a pair of three-pointers, but Purdue responded with a 9-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. That was quickly answered by a 12-0 run from the Hawkeyes capped off by five points in a row by Kate Martin, including a three-pointer. Five Iowa players hit a three-pointer in the first quarter and they took a 29-18 lead into the second quarter.
Katie Geralds’s squad tried to hang around with back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to 40-33, but they were never able to put together a run that really threatened the Hawkeyes lead. Iowa went on a short 7-0 run to make it 49-35 and force a Purdue timeout with 2:02 left in the quarter.
Then, in the closing seconds of the first half, Caitlin Clark hit one of the best shots of the season that won’t count. With a couple of fouls to give before the bonus, PU guard Jayla Smith fouled Clark, who put up near half court shot, in attempt to get free throws, and knocked it down. However, officials deemed it to be after the foul. Caitlin would get to the basket and earn a couple of free throws to give Iowa a 51-37 lead at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, the Hawkeyes were able to distance themselves from the Boilermakers in the third quarter. Caitlin Clark hit her sixth three-pointer of the game and then a couple of possessions later, Gabbie Marshall hit the teams 13th three of the game to make it 67-47. Clark received a technical foul late in the quarter for arguing a call, but Iowa went to the fourth quarter with a 73-52 lead.
For the second straight game, the Hawkeyes had a comfortable fourth quarter lead, which allowed Caitlin to go after another triple-double. With 3:22 to play, Clark pulled down her tenth rebound, got out in transition and found Gabbie Marshall for her tenth assist on a transition three-pointer.
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After making two or less threes in 13 of the first 15 games of the season, Marshall has now knocked down eight of her last 15 three-point attempts over the last two games. A good sign as the Hawkeyes continue into the heart of Big Ten play.
Kate Martin finished in double figures for the 11th time this season, with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Sydney Affolter added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench. Hannah Stuelke put up ten points on 5/9 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. The Hawkeyes shot 15/33 (45.5%) from three-point range, with six players knocking down at least one from behind the arc.
As a team, Iowa shot 33/62 (53.2%) to Purdue’s 25/62 (40.3%), while they outrebounded the Boilermakers 40-23. The Hawkeyes held the advantage in second chance points (17-6) and points in the paint (36-20).
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face the 14th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in one of the biggest home games of the season on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm CT on FOX, with Gus Johnson on the call.
