Hawkeyes dominate Clarke in final women’s basketball exhibition

IOWA CITY — Not too much gets past Caitlin Clark on a basketball court.

That includes the right amount of air pressure in the game ball.

Early in Sunday's exhibition game against Clarke University, Clark was fouled and began squeezing the ball. She headed to the scorer's table to make her point.

“She thought it was flat,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder, “and it probably was.”

That ball was the only thing that looked flat for the Hawkeyes. Sophomore Hannah Stuelke finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds while Clark added 24 points and nine assists as the Hawkeyes closed out the exhibition portion of their schedule with a 122-49 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The result was far from a surprise as Iowa had superior size against its NAIA foe from Dubuque. More than 75 percent of the Hawkeye production came from inside the lane.

“Obviously we had the size and strength advantage against them,” Bluder said, “but 88 paint points is still really good. I thought we ran the floor really well and Hannah obviously had a great game.”

The points and rebounds were not a surprise for Stuelke, but the fact she got some of her offense from areas of struggle during her freshman year was encouraging.

She converted 4-of-5 free throw attempts and connected on a 3-point shot en route to her game-high scoring output.

“I struggled with (free throws) a lot last year,” Stuelke said. “It was good to start off at 80 percent for sure. I've put in a lot of time working on (my free throws).”

No Hawkeye played more than 25 minutes. Clark was her usual efficient self, coming up one assist short of a double-double. Iowa had 45 bench points, paced by 14 from backup center Sharon Goodman. After missing the 2021-22 season with an ACL injury, Goodman saw limited minutes behind Monika Czinano and Addison O’Grady last year.

Bluder was pleased by Goodman’s overall game, which included a beautiful backdoor pass to Molly Davis for a third-quarter basket.

Goodman, who will be working behind O’Grady and Stuelke on the front line, believes she is all the way back from her injury.

“I'm ready to do whatever the team needs me to do,” Goodman said. “I think feeling more comfortable and confident comes from my teammates. They've been encouraging me for two years since my surgery.”

O’Grady finished with 12 points for the Hawks and Kate Martin chipped in with 10.

Mya Merschman led Clarke with 14 points. Cascade native Nicole McDermott added 10 for the defending NAIA national champions.

The Hawks were without junior post AJ Ediger, who was on the bench with a walking boot on her left foot. Bluder said she suffered a non-contact injury, adding it was not anything expected to be long term.

Iowa opens the regular season at home on Nov. 6 against Fairleigh Dickinson.