Iowa Hawkeyes rout Michigan, share Big Ten regular-season women’s basketball title

IOWA CITY — Their net-cutting game could use some work.

Play like they did Sunday, and the Iowa Hawkeyes will have more opportunities. Their basketball was both beautiful and brilliant.

Caitlin Clark played, arguably, the best game of her career, spearheading a lethal long-range attack as 21st-ranked Iowa shredded No. 6 Michigan, 104-80, in front of a sellout crowd of 15,056 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I don’t think you could have scripted it any better,” Clark said after the Hawkeyes (20-7 overall, 14-4 Big Ten) earned a share of the regular-season league title for the first time since 2008.

“We’re going to enjoy this, then it’s back to work. Why not win two Big Ten titles?

Iowa earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament next week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes will face 7-seed Northwestern or 10-seed Minnesota at 5:30 p.m. (CT) Friday.

The other co-champion, Ohio State is the top seed.

Carver was at capacity for a women’s game for the first time since 1988. After a slow start, the Hawkeyes appeased the masses.

“I looked at Caitlin when we came out of the tunnel and said, ‘I have chills right now,’” Gabbie Marshall said.

The Hawkeyes in general — and Clark, specifically — induced some goosebumps of their own.

The sophomore point guard showered 38 points, six rebounds and 11 assists on the Wolverines (22-5, 13-4). She hit 8 of 11 shots from long range and committed only two turnovers.

Her best game as a Hawkeye?

“Yeah, probably,” she said. “I’ve had some good ones before, but this time, we picked up the win.”

After falling behind by 11 points in the first eight minutes, the Hawkeyes played at a stratospheric level through the remainder of the game.

Iowa made 13 of 18 shots from the field in the second quarter, in which they outscored the Wolverines 33-14 and took a 53-39 advantage into the locker room.

It’s easy to point to Clark, who accumulated 20 points and six assists before intermission. A nod to Kylie Feuerbach also is in order.

Feuerbach had seven points in the quarter on 3-of-3 shooting; her ledger included a putback that gave the Hawkeyes their first lead, 32-31, at the 5:54 mark of the second quarter. And it included a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.

“Being able to contribute like that, it was really fun,” said Feuerbach, who transferred from Iowa State after her freshman season.

The Wolverines got within 67-59 late in the third quarter, then the Hawkeyes jolted them again. A 20-2 run that sandwiched the third-quarter break turned it into a laugher, and the final eight minutes was a coronation.

After it was over, the Hawkeyes posed with the championship trophy that awaited the winner. They took turns snipping one net, then the other.

It didn’t go well. The first few players cut the bottom of the net instead of the top, leaving them with knots instead of clean strands.

Oh, well.

“I remember before I came here, when (assistant coach Jan Jensen) would text me, telling me she wanted to cut down nets with me,” Clark said.

Monika Czinano added 19 points. Marshall scored 14. Quietly as usual, Kate Martin had a fine line — eight points, five rebounds, six assists.

Michigan’s Naz Hillmon, considered Clark’s most viable rival in Big Ten player-of-the-year voting, led Michigan with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Seniors Tomi Taiwo and Logan Cook played maybe their final game at Carver, or maybe not. A deep run in the Big Ten tournament could vault the Hawkeyes to a top-four NCAA seed, which would give them home-court advantage.

Iowa 104, Michigan 80

At Iowa City

MICHIGAN (80): Naz Hillmon 6-12 6-10 18, Emily Kiser 5-9 1-2 12, Maddie Nolan 3-7 3-4 11, Laila Phelia 4-10 6-8 16, Danielle Rauch 2-9 2-2 8, Amy Dilk 1-4 0-0 2, Leigha Brown 1-6 7-8 9, Cameron Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Izabel Varejao 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Hobbs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 25-34 80.

IOWA (104): McKenna Warnock 2-7 0-0 5, Monika Czinano 9-11 1-1 19, Kate Martin 2-6 2-4 8, Caitlin Clark 11-18 8-8 38, Gabbie Marshall 5-9 1-2 14, Tomi Taiwo 2-4 0-0 5, Addison O’Grady 3-5 0-0 6, Kylie Feuerbach 3-3 0-0 7, Logan Cook 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Affolter 0-0 2-2 2, A.J. Ediger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-63 14-17 104.

Michigan 25 14 20 21 — 80

Iowa 20 33 23 28 — 104

3-point goals: Michigan 7-18 (Kiser 1-1, Nolan 2-4, Phelia 2-3, Rauch 2-6, Dilk 0-1, Brown 0-3), Iowa 16-29 (Warnock 1-4, Martin 2-5, Clark 8-11, Marshall 3-6, Taiwo 1-2, Feuerbach 1-1). Team fouls: Michigan 19, Iowa 22. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Michigan 36 (Hillmon 15), Iowa 29 (Clark 6). Assists: Michigan 15 (three with 4), Iowa 23 (Clark 11). Steals: Michigan 5 (Rauch 2), Iowa 9 (Warnock, Clark 3). Turnovers: Michigan 15, Iowa 12.

Attendance: 15,056.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com