No. 3 Iowa opens with a 102-46 women’s basketball rout of Fairleigh Dickinson

IOWA CITY — Classify that as more than Fairleigh one-sided.

Hannah Stuelke and Sharon Goodman capitalized on their first career starts, Caitlin Clark was herself and No. 3 Iowa blitzed Fairleigh Dickinson, 102-46, in a season-opening women’s basketball game before a sellout crowd of 14,998 Monday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I think we were ready to go,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said after the Hawkeyes won their 24th consecutive season opener. “We were tired of beating up on each other and beating up on our Gray Squad.”

A sophomore from Cedar Rapids, Stuelke had been penciled as a starter since last season ended. She converted 9 of 10 shots from the field (including 1 of 2 from 3-point range) and, in a promising development, made all three of her free throws in a 22-point, nine-rebound performance.

“It feels great to do it in a game,” she said.

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Stuelke was a liability at the line last year, shooting 46 percent. Through one game, her 100 percent tops Clark’s 66.7.

“We’ll see how long that lasts,” Clark said, then added, “If it does, I’ll sign up for that.”

From an outsider’s perspective, Goodman’s start was a surprise. Addison O’Grady earned the nod in both exhibition games.

“She’s been playing well in practice,” Bluder said of Goodman. “She’s been sealing big, asking for the ball, running the floor hard.”

It was Goodman’s first start at any level since her senior year of high school.

“February 2020,” she said. “That was a long time ago. A lot has happened since then (including the loss of her mother to cancer, and a torn ACL). I’m grateful.”

Goodman made her first seven shots — she finished 7 of 8 — and was perfect on her five free throws, hitting for a career-high 19 points.

Before the game, a black banner signifying all of the Hawkeyes’ 2022-23 accomplishments — a Big Ten tournament title, an NCAA tournament runner-up finish — was exhibited for the fans before it eventually makes its way to the rafters.

Then came a blowout.

Iowa scored 12 straight points for a 14-2 lead, and it was 35-17 after a quarter.

The signature play came at the end of the quarter. Sydney Affolter laid out to create a loose ball, then Molly Davis converted it with an acrobatic move at the buzzer.

“Wasn’t that a great hustle play?” Bluder said.

Affolter added 11 points, O’Grady nine, Kate Martin eight.

The Hawkeyes didn’t commit their first turnover of the game until the 3:43 mark of the second quarter and played clean throughout: 28 assists, seven turnovers.

Clark posted her typical All-American-caliber numbers — 28 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists — and closed within 59 points of Megan Gustafson’s school scoring record of 2,804 points.

The level of competition rises drastically Thursday; they’ll face No. 8 Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. at Charlotte, N.C.

Win that one, and take care of business Sunday at Northern Iowa, and the Hawkeyes probably have a legitimate case for the No. 1 ranking next week. Preseason No. 1 LSU suffered a 92-78 loss to No. 20 Colorado on Monday.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Bluder said. “Our target is big enough as it is. We have a really tough challenge Thursday and another Sunday, and I’m not going to get ahead of myself.”

Iowa 102, Fairleigh Dickinson 46

At Iowa City

FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (46): Teneisia Brown 4-12 2-4 10, Lilly Parke 4-13 0-0 11, Wilma Sorensen 0-1 0-0 0, Abby Conlin 0-5 0-0 0, Abaigeal Babore 2-4 0-0 6, Ciera Cevailos 3-9 0-0 7, Bella Toomey 3-4 1-2 7, Staci Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Nickie Carter 1-6 0-0 3, Mia Andrews 0-1 0-0 0, Allie McGinn 0-0 0-0 0, Rebecca Osei-Owusu 0-2 0-0 0, Jada Elston 0-1 0-0 0, Dominiqie Garcia Blackwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 3-6 46.

IOWA (102): Hannah Stuelke 9-10 3-3 22, Sharon Goodman 7-8 5-5 19, Kate Martin 3-6 2-2 8, Caitlin Clark 11-17 2-3 28, Gabbie Marshall 0-3 0-0 0, Molly Davis 1-3 1-2 3, Addison O’Grady 4-9 1-3 9, Taylor McCabe 0-5 0-0 0, Sydney Affolter 4-6 2-3 11, Kylie Feuerbach 0-3 0-0 0, Kennise Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Jada Gyamfi 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 40-73 16-21 102.

Fairleigh Dickinson 17 7 13 9 — 46

Iowa 35 25 25 17 — 102

3-point goals: FDU 7-28 (Parke 3-9, Conklin 0-3, Babore 2-4, Cavailos 1-3, Williams 0-2, Carter 1-6, Andrews 0-1), Iowa 6-28 (Stuelke 1-2, Martin 0-2, Clark 4-9, Marshall 0-3, Davis 0-1, McCabe 0-4, Affolter 1-3, Feuerbach 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Gyamfi 0-1). Team fouls: FDU 21, Iowa 8. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: FDU 35 (Babore, Toomey 6), Iowa 46 (Stuelke 9). Assists: FDU 11 (Cevailos 3), Iowa 28 (Clark 10). Steals: FDU 6 (Brown 2), Iowa 12 (four with 2). Turnovers: FDU 18, Iowa 7.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com