Northwestern’s ‘blizzard’ is no match for Hawkeyes’ precision

IOWA CITY — Hannah Stuelke trotted to the scorer’s bench with about 4 minutes left in the first quarter.

Then, she sat. And sat. And sat.

“I was sitting there a long time,” she said. “But the view from there ... ”

Stuelke finally entered to start the second quarter. Her impact was immediate, and memorable.

“Everybody can see what an amazing player she is,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said after the 12th-ranked Hawkeyes smacked Northwestern, 93-64, in a Big Ten women’s basketball game Wednesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“She’s explosive. She’s an unbelievable rebounder and driver.”

On a night in which Caitlin Clark narrowly missed her eighth career triple-double (20 points, nine rebounds, 14 assists), it was Stuelke who drew the most decibels from the crowd of 8,384.

The freshman from Cedar Rapids posted 17 points and nine rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

“She can be a very good player, a good professional player,” Clark said of the rookie. “The way she runs the floor ... she’s the kind of player I like to play with.”

Iowa (13-4 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) posted its second straight gem — “We’ve played eight straight quarters of good basketball,” Bluder said — and gained sole possession of second place in the conference race.

Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the first quarter, putting the Hawkeyes in front to stay at 22-16.

Stuelke had a good seat for it. There were no stoppages in the final five-plus minutes of the quarter, and thus, no media timeout.

When she finally got a chance to enter, she opened the second quarter with a three-point play, then converted an offensive rebound into a basket on the next possession.

She capped the first half with a steal and a layup — closing an 11-point, five-rebound quarter — and Iowa led 47-32 at halftime.

“Everybody wanted me to dunk it,” Stuelke said. “I’m saving that for later.”

Clark said, “(Stuelke’s) teammates believe in her more than she believes in herself.”

A junior All-American who is ESPN’s consensus midseason national player of the year, Clark was whistled for a technical foul early in the third quarter.

It was a verbal assault, she said, on herself.

“It wasn’t to the ref. It wasn’t to the other team,” Clark said. “I was kind of frustrated. People need to play with passion. That’s who I am.”

Clark passed Ally Disterhoft for the No. 2 spot in Iowa career scoring; she now stands at 2,117 points. Monika Czinano added 18 Wednesday, climbing to No. 4 all-time with 2,062.

Bluder put Clark back in the game late, chasing that 10th rebound that proved to be elusive.

“There’s a risk in that,” Bluder said. “But there’s a risk in walking into a restaurant downtown.

“I want players to have those accolades if they’re that close. But there’s a point in which you have to take them out.”

McKenna Warnock added 10 points and eight rebounds, and 12 Hawkeyes dented the scoring column.

As far as the Hawkeyes’ 93 points against Northwestern’s “blizzard” defense ...

“It means Joe’s sales will go down on his videotape,” Bluder said, referring to NU Coach Joe McKoewn.

Caileigh Walsh paced the Wildcats (6-10, 0-6) with 22 points.

The Hawkeyes host Penn State at 11:30 Saturday morning.

Iowa 93, Northwestern 64

At Iowa City

NORTHWESTERN (64): Caileigh Walsh 9-18 2-2 22, Paige Mott 2-5 2-2 6, Kaylah Rainey 1-5 2-2 4, Sydney Wood 3-9 2-2 9, Jasmine McWilliams 2-8 0-2 4, Jillian Brown 1-5 0-0 2, Courtney Shaw 1-5 2-2 4, Caroline Lau 2-7 0-1 5, Hailey Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Alana Goodchild 2-3 0-0 5, Mercy Ademusayo 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 24-66 11-15 64.

IOWA (93): McKenna Warnock 4-7 2-2 10, Monika Czinano 6-8 6-7 18, Kate Martin 3-5 0-0 8, Caitlin Clark 6-14 4-6 20, Gabbie Marshall 1-3 0-0 3, Molly Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Sydney Affolter 3-4 0-0 6, Hannah Stuelke 8-11 1-2 17, Taylor McCabe 1-2 0-0 3, Shateah Wetering 0-0 1-2 1, A.J. Ediger 0-0 0-0 0, Jada Gyamfi 0-0 0-0 0, Addison O’Grady 1-1 0-0 2, Sharon Goodman 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 35-59 15-20 93.

Northwestern 16 16 15 17 — 64

Iowa 22 25 25 21 — 93

3-point goals: Northwestern 5-17 (Walsh 2-3, Rainey 0-3, Wood 1-2, McWilliams 0-2, Brown 0-2, Lau 1-3, Goodchild 1-2), Iowa 8-19 (Warnock 0-1, Martin 2-3, Clark 4-8, Marshall 1-3, Davis 0-1, Affolter 0-1, McCabe 1-2). Team fouls: Northwestern 16, Iowa 11. Fouled out: none. Technical foul: Clark. Rebounds: Northwestern 29 (Walsh, Shaw 5), Iowa 41 (Clark, Stuelke 9). Assists: Northwestern 14 (McWilliams 5), Iowa 27 (Clark 14). Steals: Northwestern 11 (three with 3), Iowa 5 (Marshall 2). Turnovers: Northwestern 9, Iowa 14.

Attendance: 8,384.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com