Cedar Rapids native Hannah Stuelke shines in Iowa’s exhibition rout against Nebraska-Kearney

IOWA CITY — As Hannah Stuelke walked to the Carver-Hawkeye Arena court for pregame warmups, she teared up “a little bit.”

The Iowan had known for a long time that she was going to be a Hawkeye after committing in 2019. But Friday night, that dream finally began.

“It’s real now,” Stuelke remembers thinking.

After some pregame tear drops, Stuelke dropped plenty of buckets in her first unofficial game as a Hawkeye.

The Cedar Rapids Washington grad was tied for team-highs in scoring, rebounding and steals as the Hawkeyes put together a dominant 108-29 win over Division II Nebraska-Kearney.

“Everybody can see how explosive she’s going to be and how much fun she’s going to be to watch over the next couple of years,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

Stuelke scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and had two steals in 22 minutes.

“I’m just so happy for her,” Bluder said. “She’s going to be a fan favorite."

It was part of an overall impressive night from Iowa’s frontcourt. Monika Czinano, Addison O’Grady, Sharon Goodman and Shateah Wetering all had perfect shooting nights, excluding free throws, as they combined to score 35 points.

Star guard Caitlin Clark had 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and eight assists in 18 minutes.

Nebraska-Kearney lingered early, at one point closing Iowa’s lead to 12-9. But then the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes took off on a 43-3 run. By halftime, Iowa had a 61-15 lead.

Iowa shot 69 percent from the field while limiting Nebraska-Kearney to 19 percent from the field.

Friday’s exhibition gave Bluder the opportunity to rotate several players into the game. Eleven different players saw action by the end of the first quarter. Thirteen different players scored by the end of the night.

The blowout win is not much of a surprise. Iowa earned the No. 4 spot in the preseason Associated Press poll and was going up against a Division II team.

“We’re not going to rest on our laurels this week,” Bluder said. “That’s for sure. ... This was great, but this was a practice. Now, the next one is for real.”

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