Iowa women’s basketball endures delay, routs No. 12 Michigan, 89-67

IOWA CITY - Five-hour delay? More like 5-Hour Energy.

The Iowa Hawkeyes showed no ill effects from a long, unanticipated wait, hammering 12th-ranked Michigan, 89-67, in a Big Ten women's basketball game Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'We just wanted to play,” said freshman Sharon Goodman, who teamed with Monika Czinano to battle All-America candidate Naz Hillmon to a virtual draw. 'It was like a competition in energy.”

This wasn't supposed to be a night game, but it was.

Originally scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. tip, the status changed around 2:45 p.m. The Hawkeyes were on the court for warmups, when the music was cut and Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder addressed the team.

Bluder said postgame that Logan Cook had tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday.

'Michigan asked that we all test before the game,” Bluder said. 'So we raced to get our PCR tests taken, and all of them were negative.”

As they waited for the test results, the Hawkeyes (13-7 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) went home, had their second pregame meal of what turned out to be a long, long day, then recharged for an 8:30 tipoff.

'Obviously, it was a weird situation,” freshman Caitlin Clark said. 'We didn't know what was going to happen. They got us in and got us tested.

'More than anything, when we got back, we were dialed in. This was a game we needed to win, wanted to win.”

This was supposed to be a tight game, but it sure wasn't.

The margin of victory was Iowa's largest against the Wolverines since a 28-pointer in 2005. And this is one of the best teams in Michigan history.

The Hawkeyes were breathtaking in the first half, shooting 65.5 percent from the floor (including 10 of 16 from long range) on their way to a 49-30 lead.

Iowa led 25-10 after the first quarter, then established a pair of 23-point bulges (35-12 and 37-14) in the second.

Michigan scored 11 consecutive points to get within 37-25, but Iowa regained control, and Kate Martin capped it with a pair of treys, including one that needed video confirmation.

The Hawkeyes kept rolling after intermission. Gabbie Marshall and Clark started it with 3-pointers, and it was 57-32 with 8:00 left in the third quarter.

Defensively, it was a vast improvement from two days earlier, when Maryland scored the most points ever by a Division-I squad against the Hawkeyes in a 111-93 trouncing.

This time, it was Iowa that did the kicking.

'I kept telling the team, ‘We're close, we're close, we're so close,'” Bluder said.

Clark finished with 27 points, dropping seven 3-pointers in 12 tries, and adding nine assists. Martin added 15 points and eight assists. Iowa collected 26 assists in 32 field goals.

Czinano and Goodman battled to a stalemate with Hillmon in the paint, and that's a good thing. Czinano had 15 points, Goodman 10, and the duo combined for 10-of-11 shooting.

Hillmon, who figures to battle Clark for Big Ten player-of-the-year honors, registered 24 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines (13-3, 8-3).

'I told Sharon afterward, she went against one of the best posts in America, and she did a really good job,” Bluder said.

Iowa is at Wisconsin on Sunday.

IOWA 89, MICHIGAN 67

At Iowa City

MICHIGAN (67): Naz Hillmon 8-13 8-11 24, Hailey Brown 3-5 0-0 9, Amy Dilk 0-6 0-0 0, Akienreh Johnson 3-11 1-2 7, Maddie Nolan 1-3 0-0 3, Elise Stuck 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Kiser 1-3 2-2 4, Michelle Sidor 0-6 0-0 0, Whitney Sollom 1-1 0-0 2, Cameron Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-59 21-25 67.

IOWA (89): McKenna Warnock 2-7 0-0 6, Monika Czinano 7-8 3-3 15, Kate Martin 5-6 2-2 15, Caitlin Clark 10-17 7-7 27, Gabbie Marshall 2-8 0-0 5, Sharon Goodman 3-3 4-4 10, Tomi Taiwo 2-2 0-0 6, Megan Meyer 1-1 2-3 5, Lauren Jensen 0-2 0-0 0, Zion Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Shateah Wetering 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-54 9-11 89.

Halftime: Iowa 49, Michigan 30. 3-point goals: Michigan 4-19 (Brown 3-4, Dilk 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Brown 0-3, Nolan 1-3, Kiser 0-1, Sidor 0-5), Iowa 16-27 (Warnock 2-4, Martin 3-4, Clark 7-12, Marshall 1-3, Taiwo 2-2, Meyer 1-1, Jensen 0-1). Team fouls: Michigan 17, Iowa 17. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Michigan 31 (Hillmon 8), Iowa 30 (Clark 5). Assists: Michigan 13 (Johnson 4), Iowa 26 (Clark 9). Steals: Michigan 12 (Brown 6), Iowa 6 (Warnock 2). Turnovers: Michigan 13, Iowa 16.

Attendance: 332.

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com