Indiana women’s basketball registered a massive home victory over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday.
The 14th-ranked Hoosiers used a 21-11 second quarter to take an 11-point lead into intermission and pulled away in the fourth to emerge with an 86-69 win over the No. 4 Hawkeyes.
Clark nearly posted a triple-double, scoring 24 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out nine assists, but Indiana held her to 8-of-26 shooting and 3-of-16 from three-point range. The sharpshooting guard was even an uncharacteristic 5-for-8 from the free throw line.
“I think being physical. Face-guarding, denying me the ball, throwing a lot of different people at me,” Clark said when asked about IU’s defense. “Just very physical, I think that was the main thing. Kind of pushed me off my spots and got me a little deeper than I wanted to be.”
Overall, Iowa shot just 38.8% from the field, including a paltry 5-for-28 behind the arc. Indiana guard Sara Scalia turned in a game-high 25 points, while forward Mackenzie Hughes chipped in 24 and nine rebounds.
“We knew it. People have said the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect,’ and that probably has somewhat to do with it, but our fanbase has continued to come out and support us. We’re, once again, really grateful for that,” IU coach Teri Moren said postgame.
With the victory, Indiana moved to 22-4 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten, while Iowa dropped to 23-4 and 12-3 in league play. The defeat is the second one of the Hawkeyes in the last three games.