Hawkeyes take down Cleveland State, Caitlin Clark goes for 38 in homecoming game
Caitlin Clark had been waiting nearly five years to get a chance to play again at Wells Fargo Arena. Last time she took the floor in February of 2019, she shot just 12/33 from the floor, as her Dowling Catholic team was knocked off by Southeast Polk in the state semifinals. They didn’t make it back when she was a senior. Tonight, she returned to her hometown and put on a show, finishing with 38 points and nine made threes, as the Hawkeyes defeated Cleveland State 104-75 in front of 14,786 fans.
“This was the game that was circled on the calendar for myself. I was just really excited to come back here and thanks for our coaches for wanting to play this game,” said Clark. “I had chills when we ran out of the tunnel…Probably my best shooting performance I’ve had in Wells Fargo Arena, I don’t remember too many great ones previously.”
She wasted no time getting the good vibes going, as she knocked down a three-pointer just 12 seconds into the game. There would be plenty more of those throughout the night, but the Hawkeyes started the night 2/12 from the floor. Early in the game they were able to get their work done at the free throw line, with seven made free throws in the first four minutes.
“On film (we saw), they really work hard in their zone, they’re very scrappy in it,” said Lisa Bluder.
The Vikings did a good job early in the game, however, you can only keep a top ten scoring offense in the country quiet for so long. The Iowa offense started to get good looks and shots started falling.
Hannah Stuelke got things going with ten points in the second quarter, while the Hawkeyes shot 56.3% from the floor. Caitlin Clark had 16 first half points, including four three-pointers. Cleveland State got 17 points from guard Mickayla Perdue, but Iowa took a 53-36 lead into halftime. Lisa Bluder said she like what she saw from the offense.
“I thought our offensive rebounding was outstanding. We said we needed to be better offensive rebounders coming into this year and I think we’re doing that…I’m very happy with how we dissected the zone. I thought did a good job of hitting cutters and making high percentage shots. We had 44 points in the paint against a zone defense. That’s hard to do.”
Against a team like Iowa, a 17-point lead is really hard to overcome, but the Hawkeyes really put the game out of reach in the third quarter. Caitlin Clark hit a three-pointer and followed it up with a transition feed to Kate Martin, which capped off a 16-7 run. It doesn’t seem like a big run, but it extended the Iowa to 71-47 and forced a Cleveland State timeout.
That’s when the fun started for Caitlin Clark. First she hit her seventh three-pointer, then her eighth in the eyes of a Viking defender and then finally a ninth in the corner to give herself 38 points on the night. Clark high-fived fans sitting courtside as she ran back down the floor. Iowa led 98-61 with 5:41 to play.
“A lot of our donors were sitting there in the front row, so a lot of people that just support our program and then somebody that works at HyVee, Donna Tweeten and she’s our biggest fan,” said Clark. “Those are people that are really passionate about women’s basketball. They’re at every single game. Those people are constantly supporting our program and they have fun with us too.”
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Caitlin exited the game to a standing ovation and the finals minutes ticked away on a 104-75 Iowa victory. Clark finished with 38 points, five rebounds and five assists on the night. She also passed former Iowa State Cyclone Ashley Joens for 9th on the all-time scoring list. Next up is former Minnesota guard Rachel Banham.
Hannah Stuelke finished with 17 points on 6/9 shooting and 13 rebounds over just 17 minutes on the floor. She also shot 5/6 from the free throw line. It’s an area of her game that has seen great growth since last season.
“It’s just been building my confidence, getting those extra reps in has been really important,” said Stuelke. “I like to play happy and I thought I was back to myself (tonight).”
Lisa Bluder got other contributions from her team, including 15 points, six rebounds and five assists from Kate Martin. Sharon Goodman had eight poitns and ten rebounds, while Molly Davis added nine points and three assists. They did turn the ball over 19 times, which is a few more than they like to see.
“We turned the ball over too many times tonight. We took some risky passes tonight that we probably didn’t need to. Got excited there and maybe forced a few,” said Bluder.
The Hawkeyes outrebounded Cleveland State 49-21, including 19-6 on the offensive glass. Iowa ranked 287th in that category last season, but have jumped up to 176th this year. They outscored the Vikings 20-2 in second chance points. As a team they shot 34/67 (50.7%) from the floor, including 66.6% from two-point range.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes will be back at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for their final non-conference game of the season. They will play host to Loyola-Chicago on Saturday, with tipoff set for 5:00pm CT on BTN+.
