Big Ten women’s basketball showdown becomes a FOX-televised fiesta for No. 3 Iowa

IOWA CITY — Travel not advised? Forget that.

They ignored the wind, the snow, the ditched vehicles along the way, the ominous 511 map.

There was a show to be savored. And the Iowa Hawkeyes rewarded them heartily.

Caitlin Clark scored 30 points, Molly Davis was a more-than-competent complementary piece, and third-ranked Iowa toasted No. 14 Indiana, 84-57, in a Big Ten women’s basketball showdown before a paid crowd of 14,998 (and an actual crowd of darn close to that) Saturday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“That second half, I thought, was beautiful,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

Iowa (17-1 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) won its 14th consecutive game — its longest streak under Bluder and the third-longest in program history — and snapped Indiana’s win streak at 13.

You’d never have guessed that the conditions outside were lousy, and had been for nearly 48 hours.

It was warm and toasty inside Carver. And by game’s end, it was a FOX-televised fiesta.

“I thought it would be maybe more than half full,” Bluder said. “It was dangerous outside, but (the fans) didn’t care.”

Clark, as we’ve come to expect, was elite. She registered 11 assists to go with those 30 points.

Davis was a big, big bonus, hitting 7 of 10 shots for 18 points (her most in a season and a half at Iowa) and playing superlative defense on IU’s Sara Scalia.

“Outstanding,” Bluder said.

Davis came to Iowa in 2022 after three years at Central Michigan. She was asked if she expected to make this sort of impact in her second home.

“No,” she said. “I just think about where I was. It chokes me up just thinking about it. Coach Bluder gave me a chance to play at a level like this, and it means a lot to me.”

Indiana (14-2, 5-1) had a justifiable excuse in its pocket if Coach Teri Moren wanted to play it. She refused.

Knowing the weather conditions in Iowa were going to deteriorate, the Hoosiers tried to obtain a plane Thursday, but one wasn’t available in Bloomington. Travel was impossible Friday, so they flew out Saturday morning, landing in Cedar Rapids around 10 a.m.

“I’m not going to use it as an excuse,” Moren said. “We got here in plenty of time to have a shoot-around, get to the hotel, have a meal, get in our routine.

“The travel piece was frustrating, but it wasn’t the reason we lost. Iowa was the reason.”

With the game tied at 19, Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Iowa in front for good.

Clark picked up her second foul on a push-off with 4:49 left in the half, but Davis kept the ship afloat in Clark’s brief absence, scoring seven of nine Iowa points.

Then, Clark made two more treys in the final 45 seconds of the half, sending the Hawkeyes to the locker room with a 43-37 advantage.

Iowa opened the second half with an 11-2 jolt, and the margin just kept growing from there.

Gabbie Marshall notched her third straight shooting gem, hitting 4 of 7 shots from long range and scoring 12 points. Kate Martin added 10 points and 12 rebounds, crossing the 1,000-point threshold for her career.

Mackenzie Holmes paced Indiana with 16 points.

“I’m very disappointed,” Moren said. “I wish we could have played so much better than we did tonight.”

The rematch is Feb. 22 at Bloomington.

Iowa 84, Indiana 57

At Iowa City

INDIANA (57): Mackenzie Holmes 6-13 4-9 16, Yarden Garzon 4-9 0-0 11, Sara Scalia 3-10 0-0 6, Chloe Moore-McNeil 4-10 0-0 9, Sydney Parrish 4-8 2-2 11, Lilly Meister 0-0 0-0 0, Lexus Bargesser 2-2 0-0 4, Lenee Beaumont 0-2 0-0 0, Julianna LaMendola 0-0 0-0 0, Henna Sandvik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 6-11 57.

IOWA (84): Hannah Stuelke 2-4 1-1 5, Molly Davis 7-10 2-3 18, Kate Martin 3-8 2-2 10, Caitlin Clark 10-21 4-4 30, Gabbie Marshall 4-7 0-0 12, Sharon Goodman 2-3 0-0 4, Sydney Affolter 2-5 0-0 5, Kylie Feuerbach 0-1 0-0 0, Addison O’Grady 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor McCabe 0-0 0-0 0, A.J. Ediger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 9-10 84.

Indiana 17 20 11 9 — 57

Iowa 19 24 22 19 — 84

3-point goals: Indiana 5-20 (Garzon 3-7, Scalia 0-4, Moore-McNeil 1-4, Parrish 1-4, Beaumont 0-1), Iowa 15-36 (Davis 2-4, Martin 2-5, Clark 6-16, Marshall 4-7, Affolter 1-2, Feuerbach 0-1). Team fouls: Indiana 15, Iowa 15. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Indiana 28 (Scalia 9), Iowa 37 (Martin 12). Assists: Indiana 12 (Moore-McNeil 6), Iowa 19 (Clark 11). Steals: Indiana 8 (Parrish 5), Iowa 5 (Marshall 2). Turnovers: Indiana 15, Iowa 13.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com