How do you stop them?: Iowa Women's Basketball's high octane offense is clicking on all cylinders

Lisa Bluder has always been known as an offensive minded head coach for the Hawkeyes. Her team has ranked top ten in the country in scoring in each of the last four seasons, including leading the country, averaging 87.3 points per game last season. So far this season, nothing has changed for Bluder and Co., as they are sixth in the country in scoring through nine games. However, it’s been the last five games, where the Hawkeyes have really seen their offensive output take off.

“I think it’s a matter of us sharing the ball a little bit better. You look at the Kansas State loss, we had our lowest assists of the year, so we’re sharing the ball better. We’re moving the ball a little bit more and I think other people just got their confidence and have had more opportunities to shoot the ball,” said Lisa Bluder.

One team was able to fluster the Caitlin Clark led offense in the early going though. Kansas State came into Carver-Hawkeye Arena on November 16th and held the Hawkeyes to their lowest regular season scoring output since January of 2019. Iowa put up just 58 points, made just two three-pointers and turned the ball over 16 times in the seven-point loss to the Wildcats. Caitlin Clark took 32 of the teams 61 shots and was just 2 of 16 from behind the three-point line. Maybe the nightmarish offensive performance was one that they needed to show that they can get beat on any given night.

“I think it was a wake up call in a way. That game was not a very accurate representation of what our team is, but it reminds you that anybody can be beat on any given day,” said Clark. “You need to show up, you need to prepare, just because you’re playing on your home court, it’s not a given win.”

“It kind of felt like when we lost at home to NC State (last season). It was eerily similar to that,” said Molly Davis prior to the Hawkeyes trip to Florida. “We learned so much about ourselves and what we need to improve on. It’s better to have it happen early on.”

After that NC State loss at home last season, the Hawkeyes rattled off wins in 14 of their next 15 games, including wins over four top 15 ranked teams. This season, the response by Lisa Bluder’s squad has been very similar. Five wins in a row, including a ranked win. More importantly, the offense has been nearly unstoppable. Over the last five games, the Hawkeyes are averaging 97.0 points per game, shooting 57.9% from the floor and have made 62 three-pointers. It hasn’t been all Caitlin Clark either. Last season, Clark scored 31.8% of Iowa’s points over the course of the season. Over the last five games, she has scored 141 points, which accounts for 28.9% of their 487 points scored. A total of eight different players have scored in double figures during the winning streak, including five in Saturday’s win over Bowling Green.

“It was nice to go to Florida and string three wins together. That’s always a huge confidence boost when you’re playing back-to-back-to-back,” said Clark. “We’ve had multiple people in double figures and that’s what we’re going to need going forward…I can’t do everything by myself and Coach Bluder always preaches, the better that everybody else is, that’s how far we’re going to go, but it’s my job to help get them involved…that’s my job as a point guard.”

One player that has really stepped up over the past couple of weeks is graduate senior Kate Martin. She has been a model of consistency for the Hawkeyes over the last three seasons, but has really taken a step forward as an offensive contributor as of late. In the loss to K-State, Martin went 0/3 shooting, had three turnvovers and scored zero points. She followed that performance up with a career-high 25 points against Drake and is averaging 14.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 over the last five games, including shooting 30/41 (73.2%) from the floor. The way she has been playing lately is exactly what Lisa Bluder saw during the summer.

“I think Kate could have been on the All-Tournament team in the Gulf Coast Showcase. I think she’s playing with confidence, she’s playing free,” said Lisa Bluder. “She was playing like that all the way up to the beginning of the year…she’s really having fun now. She was seven of nine from the field, had three blocked shots last game, she’s playing really well.”

“Kate has just rose to the challenge after our K-State loss and I think that’s what you would expect if somebody has been here for six years and has given a lot to the program,” said Caitlin Clark. “Kate’s playing the way we all knew she was capable of playing…She’s a very unselfish player, very team first, but at times we need Kate to be a little bit more selfish and look for her shot and be aggressive.”

The Hawkeyes currently rank second in the country in two-point percentage (63.3%), second in overall field goal percentage (52.7%), fifth in points per 100 possessions (119.5) and tenth in assists per game (20.7). Other players on the team have really stepped up as scorers, despite not being in a scoring role last season. The question prior to the season was, who will step up and help in the scoring department. Sharon Goodman (10.4 points), Sydney Affolter (6.6 points) and Molly Davis (6.0 points) have all increased their scoring, while Hannah Stuelke (12.7 points) is expected to rejoin the rotation soon.

Fans and reporters wondered coming into the season, if Caitlin Clark would be able to carry the team to another Final Four appearance. Throught nine games, Iowa has shown that they have the talent, the scorers and the depth to score at the same efficiency as they did last season.

Up next, the Hawkeyes will travel to Ames for the Cy-Hawk Series matchup against Iowa State on Wednesday. Iowa will be looking to extend their winning streak to six games and score 90+ points for the seventh time this season. Tip off is set for 6:00pm CT on ESPN2.