ESPN shares what Iowa women’s basketball needs in the New Year
The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-1, 1-0 Big Ten) are one of the nation’s best teams with the country’s best player, senior superstar Caitlin Clark.
Clark is authoring perhaps her finest season in Iowa City. She is averaging a career best in points per game (30.5) and field goal percentage (48.7%). Her turnovers per game are the lowest of her career, and she’s still shooting a very good 39.2% from 3-point distance while hoisting on average 11.8 treys per contest.
But, as ESPN’s Michael Voepel points out, it can’t just be Clark for Iowa. In Voepel’s look at what every team needs in the New Year, they offered thoughts on the Hawkeyes.
Caitlin Clark got her 13th career triple-double Thursday against Loyola Chicago, and she leads Division I in scoring at 30.5 PPG. Clark will keep doing her thing, but the Hawkeyes need to keep improving their interior scoring.
Sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke has shown good things since returning from an injury that kept her out three games. She and junior center Sharon Goodman are averaging a combined 22.4 points and 12.2 rebounds. – Voepel, ESPN.
Stuelke has been limited by the injury bug, but her growth as a sophomore has been evident in the 10 games she has played. Her minutes per game average is up from 12.9 minutes per game as a freshman to 19.2 as a sophomore.
As a result, her numbers across the board have ballooned as well. Stuelke’s points per game average has jumped from 6.5 to 13.9 and her rebounds per game have jumped from 3.9 to 7 per contest.
The 6-foot-2 forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been incredibly efficient, shooting 63.3% from the floor. Perhaps most importantly, Stuelke has improved her free-throw shooting from 46% as a freshman to 68.8% this season. That number needs to continue to improve.
Meanwhile, Goodman is also enjoying her best season with the Hawkeyes. While averaging a career high 16.2 minutes per night, Goodman has delivered to the tune of 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She is connecting on 69.7% of her field goal tries and shooting 78.3% from the foul line.
Right now, this Iowa team doesn’t have its Monika Czinano from the last several seasons. But, there are signs from both Stuelke and Goodman that the Hawkeyes have the type of production they need to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Obviously, it would behoove the Hawkeyes for those two along with junior forward Addison O’Grady to continue to grow.
For Iowa, though, it’s the slow start to the season by fifth-year guard Gabbie Marshall that needs the most correcting. Of course, Marshall missed Iowa’s last contest versus Loyola Chicago reportedly due to illness. But, in Marshall’s 12 games of action thus far, she is shooting 27.3% from 3-point range and averaging a career low 4.5 points per game.
ESPN has Iowa ranked No. 7 in its latest power rankings. The Hawkeyes return to action on Saturday versus Minnesota (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
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