Caitlin Clark, Iowa blow past FGCU to advance to Gulf Coast Showcase championship
The FGCU women’s basketball team needed a fast start in Saturday’s Gulf Coast Showcase semifinal against No. 5 Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark if the Eagles hoped to have a shot at pulling off the biggest upset in the program’s history.
They didn’t get it.
The Hawkeyes (6-1) closed out the first quarter on a 17-3 run and never looked back, cruising to a 100-62 victory before a largely pro-Iowa crowd of 4,257, the largest in the 11-year history of the tournament.
The 38-point loss was the worst setback for FGCU (4-2) since a 104-62 defeat to No. 9 Ohio State in the Play4Kay Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas in 2017.
Clark, who entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 30.7 points per game, finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 26 minutes. In truth, the Hawkeyes didn’t need Clark to do anything spectacular considering how badly FGCU struggled to run its offense and get clean looks at the basket.
The Eagles finished with twice as many turnovers (14) as made field goals (6) in a first half that saw them shoot 23% from the field and connect on just 3-of-18 3-point attempts. FGCU trailed 55-19 at the break.
“They jumped on us real early and we were trying to play too much off the bounce, not enough passing and screening and working together,” FGCU coach Karl Smesko said. “But give Iowa credit for their pressure getting us out of the way we want to play.”
Iowa had no such problems on the offensive end, connecting on a program-record 20 3-pointers while shooting 61% from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Taylor McCabe scored a career-high 18 points, knocking down 6-of-7 triples. Three other players scored in double-figures for the Hawkeyes.
“Honestly I think this is what our team is capable to do every single night,” Clark said. “I think maybe at times this season we haven’t shot the ball to our fullest potential.”
More: Caitlin Clark Show brings thousands of adoring Iowa supporters to Hertz Arena
One of those times came in Iowa’s lone loss of the season, a 65-58 defeat to Kansas State on Nov. 17 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. By beating FGCU, Iowa earned another shot at the No. 16 ranked Wildcats in Sunday’s Gulf Coast Showcase championship game.
“We know we didn’t play our best basketball a week ago and that’s what exciting about this,” Clark said. “We get another shot to show who we are. But they’re a really great basketball team. They play really great defense. They’re big, they’re physical. They’re good offensively in what they do.
“I think as a competitor, you lose a game, you get another chance to beat a team, that’s what you sign up for. I know our team will be ready.”
As for FGCU, the Eagles will face another Power 5 opponent in less than 24 hours when they take on North Carolina in the Showcase’s third-place game. It’s a challenging turnaround for a team still trying to incorporate nine new players into the Eagles’ system.
“I think this team can be really good and hopefully in a month or so be much better than we are now and by March be really, really good,” Smesko said. “But I mean, they’re still learning how we play. We played six games … being able to follow a game plan to the detail that we have is something we’re still learning.
“For (Saturday), they had one shootaround to get prepared for one of the best teams in the country. We’re at a point where we probably need a few days just to execute a game plan at a level that we feel comfortable with.”
Junior Maca Retamales, a transfer from Florida SouthWestern State, led FGCU with 16 points off the bench. Senior Dolly Cairns, the reigning ASUN Newcomer of the Week, scored FGCU’s first eight points of the game, finishing with 13.
Smesko said he thought the Eagles did a fairly good job limiting Clark but were hurt by the scorching shooting of the rest of Iowa's players.
“Her teammates were fantastic tonight,” Smesko said. “Every open shot they knocked down. I always think how you can tell a really good team is does the open person get the ball. For them, tonight, wherever we helped from, help on the post or help on Caitlin, they quickly got the ball to the most open player and that player knew what to do with it.”
The raucous Iowa crowd got a chance to see history Saturday as Iowa coach Lisa Bluder won her 500th game with the Hawkeyes. Once again, the stands were filled with Clark’s No. 22 jersey, mostly sported by young girls who idolize her.
“I’m only 21 years old, sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my head around it,” said Clark of her status as a role model and torch-bearer for women’s college basketball. “You just try to soak it in as much as you can but you’re also still playing the game and trying to be as focused as possible. But it’s not anything you take for granted. This is really cool and really special.”
Other Gulf Coast Showcase results
No. 16 Kansas State 63, No. 18 North Carolina 56
In a battle between two of the nation’s top defensive teams, the Wildcats were able to hold off a late surge by the Tar Heels, with some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.
Kansas State (6-0), which entered the game shooting 60% from the charity stripe, sank eight of 10 attempts down the stretch to secure the victory and a spot in Sunday’s Gulf Coast Showcase championship game.
Junior guard Serena Sundell led the Wildcats with 16 points and five assists while senior center Ayoka Lee added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Kansas State opened an early double-digit lead thanks to a 12-0 first quarter run. The Wildcats led 16-8 after one, as the Tar Heels connected on just 4-of-15 field goal tries in the opening quarter.
North Carolina (5-1) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second quarter but closed with a 6-2 run to pull within 32-22 at the break. The Tar Heels did manage to force 12 first-half turnovers, keeping them within striking distance of Kansas State.
North Carolina cut its deficit in half in the third quarter behind seven points by graduate guard Lexi Donarski. The Tarheels made it 55-53 on a three-point play by senior forward Anya Poole with 1:54 remaining but could get no closer.
Senior guard Deja Kelly had a team-high 14 points for North Carolina, which saw senior Alyssa Ustby, the team’s second-leading scorer, limited to just four points and nine rebounds due to foul trouble. The Tar Heels shot 37% from the field, including an ice-cold 2-of-20 from 3-point range.
Western Kentucky 60, Vermont 52
Sophomore guard Acacia Hayes scored 18 points for the Lady Toppers (6-2), who held the Catamounts to just seven points in the final 7:23 to pull away for the victory Saturday.
Three other players scored in double-figures for Western Kentucky: sophomore guard Karris Allen (15 points), senior guard Teresa Faustino (11) and junior guard Alexis Mead (11).
Vermont (3-3), which nearly upset No. 18 North Carolina in its Showcase opener Friday, shot just 39% against the Lady Toppers, including 3-of-21 from the 3-point line. Graduate guard Emma Utterback led the Catamounts with 14 points and four assists.
Purdue Fort Wayne 88, Delaware 74
Senior guard Amelia Bromenschenkel scored a game-high for the Mastodons (3-2), who outscored the Blue Hens 49-27 in the final two quarters to roar back from an eight-point deficit at halftime.
Purdue Fort Wayne shot 65.5% in the second half including knocking down 5-of-9 3-point tries. Delaware (1-3) meanwhile struggled mightily from behind the arc, hitting just 1-of-10 3-point attempts in the second half and finishing 5-of-23 from long distance in the game.
Fifth-year center Klarke Sconiers had a game-high 17 points for the Blue Hens who will face Vermont in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m. Sunday. Purdue Fort Wayne will take on Western Kentucky in the fifth-place matchup at 1:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Caitlin Clark, Iowa get rematch with Kansas State at Gulf Coast Showcase
