The world knows Iowa’s Caitlin Clark can scoore at will, but it was her passing and unselfish play that was on full display against Penn State in a 111-93 Iowa win Thursday night in Iowa City, Iowa.
PSU held Clark to only five points in the first quarter and stuck around with the Hawkeyes for the entirety of the first half. It wasn’t until Shay Ciezki left the game with an injury midway through the second quarter that Clark and Iowa turned it up.
Sure, Clark scored her points, but her role as a facillitator was on display in a big way. She finished with 15 assists with many of those coming on baskets by Hannah Stuelke who had 47 on the night.
Penn State couldn’t handle Stuelke down low with its focus being on Clark. Iowa made them pay scoring 56 points in the paint against the PSU.
Clark’s 27-point, 15-assist game marked the 56th double-double in her illustrious career with the Hawkeyes. Her and Stuelke helped contribute to a 53-percent shooting night from the field for Iowa.
Despite all of that, Penn State was down 10 as late as the fourth quarter before the Lady Hawkeyes put them away for good.
Penn State got double-digit performances from Ashley Owusu (18), Leilani Kapinis (12), Makenna Marisa (12) and Alli Campbell (10). That’s all without Ciezki who exited in the second quarter.
For Penn State, the hope is that Ciezki won’t miss much time, but they were able to get good minutes and balanced scoring even in her absence.
Iowa’s performance showed why its the No. 2 team in the country, but Penn State competing with Iowa for nearly all 60 minutes is a sign of good things to come the rest of the way as PSU looks to return to the NCAA tournament.
