Caitlin Clark’s latest trick: Big Ten’s all-time leader in assists

IOWA CITY — No rust. None whatsoever.

Caitlin Clark became Iowa’s — and the Big Ten’s — all-time assist queen, and the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes pounced on Minnesota early in a 94-71 women’s basketball romp before a sellout crowd of 14,998 Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“The break was good for everybody to reset,” said Clark, who posted 35 points and 10 assists in Iowa’s first game in nine days.

“But it was easy to get up for this game. Especially with a crowd like that. It was loud.”

There was plenty to yell and scream and holler about.

* With 904 career assists, Clark first surpassed Samantha Logic (898) as Iowa’s all-time leader. Her eighth assist of the day — a beauty that Hannah Stuelke converted into a layup — erased Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis (901) from the Big Ten leaderboard.

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“I know Caitlin finds me a lot,” said Stuelke, who made 9 of 10 shots and scored 19 points. “She did a good job getting me the ball. I had a mismatch (with Minnesota’s Sophie Hart). I’m a little quicker.”

Surely, Clark will receive another commemorative ball for her latest accomplishment. Where does she keep them all?

“I have a couple of storage units back home,” Clark said. “The 3,000-point ball is still in the locker room. Sometime I’ll (retrieve) it when I clean my locker out.”

“It needs to be cleaned out,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

* By the end of the first quarter, Clark (3,149 career points) had raced to No. 5 on the NCAA Division-I scoring list, passing Lorri Bauman of Drake (3,115) and Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State (3,122).

* Iowa’s 10-game win streak is its longest since the Hawkeyes started the 2004-05 season with 13 in a row.

* The Hawkeyes (13-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) won their ninth straight against Minnesota, and beat the Gophers at Carver for the 14th time in a row.

This was a no-doubter from the start.

As they prepared for the center jump, the Hawkeyes mugged for the Jumbotron — “Cameras make me nervous,” Stuelke said, “but we were ready to go” — with Kate Martin grinning and waving.

Clark had seven points in less than three minutes, and Iowa led 11-2.

It was 25-12 after a quarter. Iowa’s largest advantage was 84-52 on Clark’s basket with 6:48 left.

“Our defense was good, and that leads to transition,” Clark said. “Our 4s and 5s were good about clearing the ball quickly.”

Martin added 13 points.

Gabbie Marshall didn’t score a point, but her defense against Minnesota’s Mara Braun was exemplary, and the senior guard had the team’s highest plus/minus (plus-32).

“Incredible stuff,” Bluder said. “She held Braun to tough numbers. Her defense was spectacular.”

Amaya Battle paced Minnesota (11-2, 1-1) with 16 points.

The Hawkeyes host Michigan State at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Iowa 94, Minnesota 71

At Iowa City

MINNESOTA (71): Mallory Heyer 3-8 0-0 8, Grace Grocholski 3-9 0-0 7, Sophie Hart 6-11 1-4 13, Amaya Battle 7-17 2-2 16, Mara Braun 4-16 7-7 15, Niamya Holloway 1-3 1-2 3, Janay Sanders 4-7 1-2 9, Ayionna Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Ajok Madoi 0-0 0-0 0, McKynnlie Dalan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-71 12-17 71.

IOWA (94): Hannah Stuelke 9-10 1-3 19, Molly Davis 0-1 2-2 2, Kate Martin 5-7 2-2 13, Caitlin Clark 13-22 1-3 35, Gabbie Marshall 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Affolter 2-5 4-4 8, Kylie Feuerbach 2-5 0-2 5, Sharon Goodman 1-1 0-2 2, Addison O’Grady 2-4 0-0 4, Taylor McCabe 1-2 2-2 5, Kennise Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Jada Gyamfi 0-1 0-0 0, A.J. Ediger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-60 13-22 94.

Minnesota 12 19 18 22 — 71

Iowa 25 24 27 18 — 94

3-point goals: Minnesota 3-19 (Heyer 2-5, Grocholski 1-6, Battle 0-1, Braun 0-5, Sanders 0-2), Iowa 11-29 (Davis 0-1, Martin 1-2, Clark 8-16, Marshall 0-2, Affolter 0-2, Feuerbach 1-3, McCabe 1-2, Gyamfi 0-1). Team fouls: Minnesota 18, Iowa 17. Fouled out: Davis. Rebounds: Minnesota 32 (Hart 6), Iowa 43 (Stuelke 8). Assists: Minnesota 14 (Battle, Braun 5), Iowa 23 (Clark 9). Steals: Minnesota 12 (Battle 5), Iowa 8 (Clark, Feuerbach 2). Turnovers: Minnesota 13, Iowa 18.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com