Iowa women’s basketball shows rust in first game back, falls at Duke

Rusty, indeed.

Iowa hadn’t played a women’s basketball game in two weeks, hadn’t practiced in most of that time and looked like it Thursday night.

Duke controlled the final 37 minutes of the game and handled the No. 9 Hawkeyes, 79-64, in a Big Ten/ACC Challenge women’s basketball matchup Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

The Big Ten finished 4-10 in the Challenge.

The game was Iowa’s first since Nov. 17. The Hawkeyes (4-1) had been on pause due to a COVID-19 outbreak and missed three games.

“You could tell our timing was off,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder, whose 800th career win will have to wait.

The next opportunity is Sunday, when the Hawkeyes welcome Michigan State in their Big Ten opener.

Tipoff is 3 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (BTN).

Duke (7-0) spotted the Hawkeyes the first six points, then commanded play the rest of the way.

“How much of that was due to COVID? I don’t know,” Bluder said. “This certainly wasn’t an Iowa performance that I was proud of. We need to regroup quickly.”

Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes with 22 points, but 13 of them came in the fourth quarter. She was 9 of 27 from the field, 1 of 13 from long range.

“She’s a great player. We always respect our opponent,” Duke’s Celeste Taylor said. “We just played defense, played our principles.”

The Hawkeyes were sharp in the first three minutes, taking leads of 6-0 and 8-2 behind Monika Czinano, who had three of the team’s first four baskets.

But the rest of the half belonged to the Blue Devils.

Duke scored the next eight points for a 10-8 lead. The Hawkeyes tied it at 10-10, 12-12 and 14-14, but never led again.

The Blue Devils enjoyed a 20-16 lead after one quarter, and extended the advantage to 10 points late in the half. It was 36-28 at intermission.

The teams combined for 23 first-half turnovers. Duke enjoyed a 20-12 rebounding advantage, 6-0 at the offensive end.

Any hopes for a comeback win evaporated quickly in the second half. The Blue Devils came out of the locker room with a 14-4 surge for a 50-32 advantage, their largest of the game.

Czinano finished with 21 points. Kate Martin added 12.

Shayeann Day-Wilson paced Duke with 19

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com