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Monika Czinano hits 2,000; Hawkeyes whip Purdue for 6th straight win
Iowa gets major contributions from McKenna Warnock and Hannah Stuelke; crowd of nearly 12,000 includes signee Ava Jones
Dec. 29, 2022 11:19 pm, Updated: Dec. 30, 2022 8:47 am
Monika Czinano celebrates with Jada Gyamfi on the Iowa bench after scoring her 2,000th career point during the fourth quarter of Iowa’s 83-68 win over Purdue in a Big Ten women’s basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday. (Anna Moore/Freelance for The Gazette)
McKenna Warnock looks for a rebound against Purdue’s Madison Layden during the second half of Iowa’s 83-68 win over the Boilermakers on Thursday. Warnock scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers. (Anna Moore/Freelance for The Gazette)
Iowa women’s basketball signee Ava Jones looks on during the second half of Iowa’s 83-68 win over Purdue on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. A senior at Nickerson (Kan.) High School, Jones suffered a severe injury last summer. She’ll join the program next season. (Anna Moore/Freelance for The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — Monika Czinano’s primary motivation for a fifth year was another shot at a deep NCAA tournament run.
This was a nice byproduct.
Eight days after Caitlin Clark reached the 2,000-point mark, Czinano did the same. Her fourth-quarter free throw got her to the milestone Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the highlight of 12th-ranked Iowa’s 83-68 Big Ten women’s basketball victory over Purdue.
“It’s really special. It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Czinano said. “To see Megan (Gustafson) do it (in the 2018-19 season) and to see Caitlin do it (Dec. 20), it’s an exclusive list. If I’m scoring 2,000 points, that means I’m getting 1,000 passes.”
Czinano follows Cindy Haugejorde, Ally Disterhoft, Gustafson and Clark into the Hawkeyes’ 2,000-point club. Her 12 points Thursday got her to 2,001.
“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.
Czinano and Clark are the first Big Ten teammates ever to reach 2,000 career points in the same season.
Iowa (11-3 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) assembled scoring runs of 7-0, 7-0, 7-0 and 13-0 in the first half on its way to a 44-23 advantage at intermission, and rolled to its sixth consecutive win.
“We’re capable of that,” Czinano said. “We have such a great starting five, and we have others that can contribute, too.”
Clark scored 24 points, and McKenna Warnock added 19 — hitting 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
“I just got passes from people and knocked (the shots) down,” Warnock said. “It was definitely exciting.
“It was a pretty good first half. We came back from Christmas break and had some really good practices.”
Hannah Stuelke, a freshman from Cedar Rapids, posted her first career double-double — 11 points and 10 rebounds — and pulled it off in only 11 minutes.
“She was a nice spark. She’s capable of rebounding like that,” Bluder said. “I’m happy for Hannah.”
Four of Stuelke’s rebounds came on the offensive end, and she converted all four of them into baskets.
Thursday’s game was played before a crowd of 11,942, which included Ava Jones, a signee from Nickerson, Kan., who was severely injured last summer.
“I’m glad she got to see Carver in an electric atmosphere like this,” Bluder said. “I’m glad she got to see her future home like this.”
Purdue (10-3, 1-2) closed the 21-point halftime deficit to 53-42 on Jeanae Terry’s follow shot with 2:20 left in the third quarter, but Iowa answered with an 11-2 run to restore order.
Czinano’s milestone free throw came with 6:15 remaining. She also hit the second to make it 66-49.
“I had to make the next one,” she said. “I had to stay locked in.”
Lasha Petree paced Purdue with 22 points.
Iowa plays at Illinois (12-2, 2-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Illini won at Wisconsin, 79-63, Thursday.
Iowa 83, Purdue 68
At Iowa City
PURDUE (68): Caitlyn Harper 4-9 0-0 10, Cassidy Hardin 4-11 0-0 10, Jeanae Terry 2-8 0-0 4, Lasha Petree 6-18 7-8 22, Abbey Ellis 1-6 1-2 3, Jayla Smith 4-8 1-1 9, Madison Layden 3-10 0-0 8, Rickie Woltman 1-2 0-0 2, Ava Learn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-72 9-11 68.
IOWA (83): McKenna Warnock 7-10 0-0 19, Monika Czinano 3-8 6-8 12, Kate Martin 2-7 0-0 5, Caitlin Clark 7-16 6-9 24, Gabbie Marshall 1-4 2-4 4, Molly Davis 0-3 1-2 1, A.J. Ediger 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Affolter 3-3 0-0 7, Hannah Stuelke 5-6 1-4 11, Addison O’Grady 0-0 0-0 0, Sharon Goodman 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor McCabe 0-0 0-0 0, Shateah Wetering 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 16-27 83.
Purdue 12 11 21 24 -- 68
Iowa 20 24 14 25 -- 83
3-point goals: Purdue 9-31 (Harper 2-4, Hardin 2-8, Terry 0-2, Petree 3-8, Ellis 0-3, Layden 2-6), Iowa 11-27 (Warnock 5-7, Martin 1-5, Clark 4-10, Marshall 0-3, Davis 0-1, Affolter 1-1). Team fouls: Purdue 18, Iowa 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Purdue 37 (Terry 8), Iowa 48 (Stuelke 10). Assists: Purdue 12 (Terry 7), Iowa 15 (Clark 5). Steals: Purdue 9 (Terry 3), Iowa 6 (Warnock 3). Turnovers: Purdue 12, Iowa 15.
Attendance: 11,942.
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
