No. 16 Iowa smacks Minnesota, but have the Hawkeyes lost their glue?

IOWA CITY — So many marks of achievement in one night.

Lisa Bluder became the Big Ten’s all-time leader in regular-season conference coaching victories.

McKenna Warnock reached the 1,000-point plateau.

Caitlin Clark flirted with another triple-double. Monika Czinano continued her dominance over her home-state team.

But the major storyline in 16th-ranked Iowa’s 87-64 Saturday-night Big Ten women’s basketball romp over Minnesota is this:

Have the Hawkeyes lost their glue?

Kate Martin’s shin injury — and it might be a significant one — put a major pall on the night.

“From the initial X-ray, it looks like a deep bone bruise,” Bluder said. “She’ll get a real X-ray (Sunday or Monday), and we’ll know more.

“I was concerned that it was broken.”

Martin — “our emotional leader and our captain,” according to Clark — collided with Minnesota’s Alanna Micheaux while driving the baseline early in the third quarter.

Martin’s knee smacked into Micheaux’s knee in the lane, and Martin stayed down. She was helped up and unable to put weight on her right leg.

She was taken to the medical room in the tunnel, then returned on crutches, in pain and her shin wrapped in ice.

“When she went down, it was really a shock to our team,” Bluder said. “It took us out of our rhythm for a little bit.”

It also shocked the Carver-Hawkeye crowd of 8,946, and the flow of the game was never the same.

Czinano, who has been Martin’s roommate for four years, called Martin “one of the toughest people I know.”

If Martin is unable to go when the Hawkeyes (8-3 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) host Northern Iowa on next Sunday, Bluder proclaimed Molly Davis and Sydney Affolter as the most likely candidates to join the starting lineup.

“We could go a lot of different ways, but Molly and Syd are the most common suspects,” Bluder said.

Bluder picked up the 234th Big Ten victory of her career, surpassing former Iowa and Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer (233).

“(Assistants) Jan (Jensen) and Jenni (Fitzgerald) have been there for every one of them,” Bluder said. “I don’t consider this my honor. It’s our honor.

“When I was a young coach, I came in here and worked Coach Stringer’s camps, picked her ear. Now it seems kind of odd (to pass her).”

Bluder “is the reason I came here,” Clark said. “She’s always had the same vision as I do. She has developed a lot of tremendous players way before my time.

“I’m glad I get to play for somebody that loves offense as much as I do.”

Clark finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, finishing just shy of her eighth career triple-double.

A native of Watertown, Minn., Czinano (22 points) improved to 8-0 in her career against a Minnesota program that didn’t offer her a scholarship.

“That was a lot of fun,” said Czinano, whose sister Maggie Czinano is a sophomore for the Gophers (5-5, 1-1), and compiled four points and eight rebounds. “I blocked one of Maggie’s shots, and I couldn’t wait to bring that up to her.

“After the game, she said it should have been a foul.”

Warnock added 12 points and 10 rebounds, pushing her career scoring total to 1,007.

The Hawkeyes scored the first eight points and led throughout.

Iowa 87, Minnesota 64

At Iowa City

MINNESOTA (64): Alanna Micheaux 2-9 2-4 6, Mallory Heyer 3-8 0-0 8, Amaya Battle 5-11 1-2 11, Mara Braun 5-16 2-2 14, Katie Borowicz 1-6 5-6 7, Destinee Oberg 3-3 2-2 8, Isabelle Gradwell 1-4 3-4 6, Angelina Hammond 0-3 0-0 0, Maggie Czinano 0-1 4-8 4, Mi’Cole Cayton 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 20-66 19-28 64.

IOWA (87): McKenna Warnock 5-7 1-2 12, Monika Czinano 11-17 0-1 22, Kate Martin 3-5 1-1 7, Caitlin Clark 11-26 6-8 32, Gabbie Marshall 0-6 0-0 0, Molly Davis 0-3 3-4 3, Addison O’Grady 1-2 0-0 2, Hannah Stuelke 0-1 3-6 3, Sydney Affolter 0-1 2-2 2, Taylor McCabe 0-1 0-0 0, Shateah Wetering 0-0 0-0 0, Shateah Wetering 0-1 0-0 0, A.J. Ediger 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 33-72 16-24 87.

Minnesota 18 19 17 10 — 64

Iowa 24 25 17 21 — 87

3-pointers: Minnesota 5-22 (Heyer 2-7, Battle 0-1, Braun 2-5, Borowicz 0-3, Gradwell 1-2, Cayton 0-4), Iowa 5-22 (Warnock 1-3, Martin 0-2, Clark 4-9, Marshall 0-6, Davis 0-1, McCabe 0-1). Team fouls: Minnesota 22, Iowa 19. Fouled out: Battle, Monika Czinano. Rebounds: Minnesota 42 (Heyer 9), Iowa 49 (Warnock, Clark 10). Assists: Minnesota 8 (Battle 4), Iowa 24 (Clark 9). Steals: Minnesota 7 (Braun 3), Iowa 10 (Clark 4). Turnovers: Minnesota 17, Iowa 14.

Attendance: 8,946.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com