Iowa women’s basketball turns the tables on Kansas State, 77-70

Note: This story was generated in Cedar Rapids.

The Iowa Hawkeyes settled a score Sunday, avenging their only defeat of the season.

Caitlin Clark scored 32 points, including a pair of key 3-pointers late, and No. 5 Iowa topped No. 16 Kansas State in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Classic at Hertz Arena in Estero, Fla.

Clark was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.

Iowa (7-1) suffered a 65-58 loss to Kansas State on Nov. 16 at home, but flipped the seven-point margin Sunday.

Trailing by 11 points early in the the fourth quarter, Kansas State (6-1) rallied for a brief 68-67 lead on Gisela Sanchez’s three-point play with 2:44 to go.

It lasted 13 seconds.

Kate Martin converted a layup with 2:31 left to put the Hawkeyes back in front.

Then, Clark hit a 3-pointer to make it 72-68, and added another to push the advantage to 75-70 with 0:47 remaining.

Molly Davis added 13 points and joined Clark on the all-tournament team. Martin supplied 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Clark is 46 points away from becoming the 14th player in NCAA Division-I women’s basketball history to score 3,000 points in a career.

Ayoka Lee and Serena Sundell paced K-State with 18 points apiece.

Iowa jumped to a 27-15 lead after the first quarter, but the Wildcats got back in it at 39-38 at halftime.

Hannah Stuelke was sidelined for the second straight game with an unspecified injury. She was hurt late in the Hawkeyes’ quarterfinal game Friday.

The Hawkeyes return home to host Bowling Green on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com