The Hawkeyes shot 60 percent from field and 40 percent from 3-point range on their way to a 95-43 win.
Daniel McGregor Huyer
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark passes the ball across the court during a 2023 NCAA women’s first round basketball game between No. 2 Iowa and No. 16 Southeastern Louisiana at the packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, March 16, 2023 run.
Second-seeded Iowa defeated 15th-seeded Southeastern Louisiana 95-43 in the first round of Friday’s NCAA tournament at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa City hosted a number of first-round games for the Seattle-area tournament, and the Hawkeyes took advantage of the sold-out home court.
The Lions’ defensive game plan was to harry junior guard Caitlin Clark throughout the field and protect her in the half — but to no avail. Clark shot 9-for-14 from the field, 3-for-6 from three and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the game for a total of 26 points — 19 of them in the first half alone.
She added 12 assists and seven rebounds for a double-double. The team averaged 27 assists in 16 turnovers.
“I thought we did a really good job [getting assists]’ said Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder. “Any time you have 27 assists, that’s pretty good.”
Fifth grade senior center Monika Czinano made the color their stronghold, scoring 20 of Iowa’s 54 points in the color. Freshman center Hannah Stuelke followed Czinano’s lead off the bench for 13 points in 5-on-5 from the field and 3-on-6 from the charity streak.
“I think Hannah Stuelke played an incredible game today,” Clark said. “If we let her play like that and she can come off the bench, that just gives us a whole different weapon for people to plan for.”
Push the pace
Senior guard Gabbie Marshall is shooting 37 percent from 3-point range this season and opened the game just like that: a three in the left corner.
But it was Clark who set the tone early, often quickly breaking through the pressing to score 12 goals and assist three times in the first quarter alone. She shot 4-for-6 from field, 2-for-3 from deep, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in the first. The Hawkeyes led 28-17 into the second round.
Clark hit her double-double with her 10th assist with a minute left in the third quarter, and the Lions’ face-protecting game plan quickly turned into fouls.
“They were physical… they’re a scrappy team; You’ve taken the full seat man to man,” Clark said, “but I really don’t know what you can do to us out there that we really haven’t seen. We will be ready for whatever people throw at us.”
At the end of the contest, every available Hawkeye came into play and scored 11 points.
“I thought the guys from the bench played really well,” Clark said. “It’s really fun to see [the bench players] having our moment too… We five starters get most of the minutes but these kids still come to practice every day and work super hard.”
concerns on the glass
Iowa struggled to recover defensively in the third game, which was reflected in the Lions’ 14 offensive rebounds in the game. The Lions used this to increase their possession but were unable to capitalize on the advantage and only scored three second-chance points.
Iowa passed Southeastern Louisiana 45-31, but the Lions had a 14-9 advantage on the offensive glass. And the Hawkeyes know they need to step up their rebound game on Sunday.
“They have some really good rebounders on the Georgia team, so we need to reach out and open up because they’re exceptional offensive rebounders,” Bluder said. “I think that’s one of her keys. Rebounds will definitely be a factor in the next game.”
Next
The Hawkeyes will take on the 10th-place Georgia Bulldogs in the second round at 2 p.m. Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 in Seattle next weekend.
Georgia upset seventh-ranked Florida 66-54 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday.
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