From doldrums to dominant, No. 5 Iowa handles Nebraska, 92-73

IOWA CITY — The Iowa Hawkeyes went from second gear to overdrive in 60 seconds flat.

The length of a second-quarter Lisa Bluder timeout.

“She’s going to get on us. She’s going to coach us,” Caitlin Clark said. “We don’t want to let her down.

“We knew we hadn’t been playing to the standard of Iowa (women’s) basketball.”

Then, suddenly, they were. And all was well.

No. 5 Iowa awoke with the final nine points of the first half, followed that with a 17-5 surge to open the second half, and ran away from Nebraska, 92-73, in a Big Ten battle before a sellout crowd of 14,998 Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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Another game, another satisfied, entertained Iowa women’s basketball crowd of 15,000

“The first half, we were a little out of sorts,” Bluder said. “We didn’t run our offense well. The second half, we did.”

Clark, who has averaged more than 35 points per game in her career against Nebraska, rang up 38 Saturday, including 28 in the second half.

Iowa (19-2 overall, 8-1 Big Ten) reached the midpoint of the conference race a half-game ahead of Indiana and Ohio State

Coming off an overtime loss at Ohio State six days prior, the Hawkeyes didn’t look special for much of the first half.

They got out to a 9-0 lead, then went chilly as Nebraska (13-7, 5-4) got back in the game, then took the lead.

The Huskers were in front, 31-27, when Bluder called time with 1:54 left in the half. And whatever message she gave in the huddle was properly received.

“It was just a gut check,” Bluder said. “Maybe I need to call more timeouts.”

Kate Martin hit a pair of free throws. Sydney Affolter converted an offensive rebound into a basket. Martin scored on a feed from Clark. Then it was Clark, for three points, at the horn, for a 36-31 halftime advantage.

When Clark hit the second of back-to-back 3-pointers, at the 6:53 mark of the third quarter for a 48-35 lead, the Hawkeyes had scored on nine consecutive possessions.

Part of that run was a basket by Gabbie Marshall, made possible when an offensive carom came to Molly Davis, who was lying on her back.

“Molly always does whatever is needed to do,” Bluder said. “She’s one of the most unselfish players we’ve got. If you give her a compliment, she turns red in the face.”

Nebraska didn’t close within single digits again.

It’s a familiar theme for the Hawkeyes, who can put a 10-point, 90-second surge on any team, at any time.

Clark hit 12 of 22 shots from the floor, 8 of 15 from 3-point range, 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. She collected 10 rebounds and six assists.

With 3,389 career points, she is four away from former Missouri State great Jackie Stiles, 13 away from the Big Ten record of Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell.

Then it’s the chase for the NCAA women’s record of 3,527, by Washington’s Kelsey Plum. At Clark’s current rate of 32.0 points per game this season, she ought to reach that at Carver on Feb. 15, against Michigan.

Martin added 16 points for the Hawkeyes, who beat Nebraska for the ninth straight time. Affolter came off the bench for a gritty 12.

“Syd always gives us such great energy off the bench,” Bluder said. “Her plus/minus is always very, very good for us.”

Jaz Shelley led Nebraska with 19 points. Alexis Markowski added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hawkeyes have two road games next week — at Wednesday at Northwestern and Saturday at Maryland.

Iowa 92, Nebraska 73

At Iowa City

NEBRASKA (73):

Natalie Potts 2-6 0-0 5, Alexis Markowski 6-12 5-6 17, Darian White 1-2 5-8 7, Jaz Shelley 7-17 0-0 19, Maddie Krull 0-3 0-0 0, Kendall Coley 1-2 0-0 2, Callin Hake 3-6 3-5 11, Annika Stewart 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Nissley 2-4 1-2 7, Kendall Moriarty 1-4 2-2 4, Jessica Petrie 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 23-59 17-25 73.

IOWA (92): Hannah Stuelke 2-4 2-2 7, Molly Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Kate Martin 6-11 4-6 16, Caitlin Clark 12-22 6-7 38, Gabbie Marshall 2-6 0-0 4, Sydney Affolter 4-6 3-3 12, Kylie Feuerbach 0-1 0-0 0, Addison O’Grady 1-3 1-2 3, Taylor McCabe 2-3 0-0 6, Sharon Goodman 1-1 0-0 2, A.J. Ediger 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 31-59 18-22 92.

Nebraska 11 20 18 24 — 73

Iowa 14 22 27 29 — 92

3-point goals: Nebraska 10-29 (Potts 1-5, Markowski 0-1, Shelley 5-11, Krull 0-1, Hake 2-3, Stewart 0-1, Nissley 2-4, Moriarty 0-1, Petrie 0-2), Iowa 12-29 (Stuelke 1-1, Martin 0-3, Clark 8-15, Marshall 0-4, Affolter 1-2, Feuerbach 0-1, McCabe 2-3). Team fouls: Nebraska 18, Iowa 19. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Nebraska 40 (Markowski 11), Iowa 31 (Clark 10). Assists: Nebraska 15 (Shelley 5), Iowa 20 (Davis, Clark 6). Steals: Nebraska 5 (Shelley, Krull 2), Iowa 12 (Stuelke 3). Turnovers: Nebraska 20, Iowa 11.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com