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Hawkeyes make it worth the wait

Iowa rips No. 12 Michigan after COVID delay

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MALLY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM - University of Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) makes a 3-pointer over Michigan’s Akienreh Johnson (14) during the first quarter of their Big Ten Conference basketball game on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Clark scored a game-high 27 points as the Hawkeyes hammered the No. 12 Wolverines, 89-67.

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team drained 16 3-pointers in its 89-67 win over No. 12 Michigan on Thursday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

After a five-hour delay due to health and safety protocols, the Hawkeyes (13-7, 9-7) secured their first win over a ranked opponent this season.

“I’m thrilled to get this win today,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “Top-20 win — we needed this. We have been so close so many times and today we broke through. I’m really proud of our team maintaining this day and how strange the day was.”

Iowa never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 25-10 first-quarter lead and led by as many as 34 points in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Caitlin Clark sank was 7-of-12 from 3-point range and led the Hawkeyes with a game-high 27 points, along with nine assists and five rebounds.

“Even before it got delayed, we were dialed in,” Clark said. “We knew this was one we needed to win, and we wanted to win. We were mentally prepared and ready to go.”

Clark was one of four Hawkeyes in double figures, joined by junior Monika Czinano (15), sophomore McKenna Warnock (15) and freshman Sharon Goodman (10). Iowa shot a season-best 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from behind the arc, with four Hawkeyes making multiple 3-pointers.

“When one person makes a three, the next person gets that energy,” Clark said. “The bench gets going. The crowd gets going. That’s fun basketball and tonight we did a good job finding the one more pass. We weren’t settling for a good shot. We were passing it off for a great shot. It’s great to see so many people step up and hit those big 3s.”

Redshirt sophomore Kate Martin hit Iowa’s 10th triple of the first half as time expired, giving the Hawkeyes a 49-30 lead at the brreak.

Iowa extended its lead to 29 points halfway through the third quarter, before Michigan (13-3, 8-3) cut its deficit to 20 after a 9-0 run. The Hawkeyes answered with a 12-2 run to head to the fourth quarter with a 30-point lead (77-47), before handing Michigan only its third loss of the season.

“We kept telling our team we are so close,” Bluder said. “We have to put a defensive effort together, with what we are doing on the offensive end, and tonight we did that.”

Caitlin is obviously a special shooter, but we have a lot of people that are shooting it well from 3-point range. And that makes it fun, that it’s just not one person contributing to that 60 percent 3-point field goal shooting.”

Naz Hillmon led the way for Michigan, going for 24 points and eight rebounds, with Leigha Brown joining her in double figures with 16 points.

The Hawkeyes travel to Madison, Wis., on Sunday to face Wisconsin at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1.

Iowa 89, No. 12 Michigan 67

MICHIGAN (13-3) — Hailey Brown 3-5 0-0 9, Hillmon 8-13 8-11 24, Leigha Brown 3-9 10-10 16, Dilk 0-6 0-0 0, Johnson 3-11 1-2 7, Kiser 1-3 2-2 4, Nolan 1-3 0-0 3, Sidor 0-6 0-0 0, Sollom 1-1 0-0 2, Stuck 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 21-59 21-25 67

IOWA (13-7) — Warnock 2-7 0-0 6, Czinano 7-8 1-2 15, Clark 10-17 0-0 27, Marshall 2-8 0-0 5, Martin 5-6 2-2 15, Meyer 1-1 2-3 5, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Taiwo 2-2 0-0 6, Goodman 3-3 4-4 10, Jensen 0-2 0-0 0, Wetering 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 32-54 9-11 89

Michigan 10 20 17 20 — 67

Iowa 25 24 28 12 — 89

3-Point Goals–Michigan 4-19 (Brown 3-4, Brown 0-3, Dilk 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Kiser 0-1, Nolan 1-3, Sidor 0-5), Iowa 16-27 (Warnock 2-4, Clark 7-12, Marshall 1-3, Martin 3-4, Meyer 1-1, Taiwo 2-2, Jensen 0-1). Assists–Michigan 13 (Johnson 4), Iowa 26 (Clark 9). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Michigan 31 (Hillmon 8), Iowa 30 (Clark 5). Total Fouls–Michigan 17, Iowa 17. A–332.

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