Takeaways as Iowa Hawkeyes blow by Northwestern Wildcats
For what was a true a road game, the Iowa Hawkeyes blowout win over the Northwestern Wildcats felt and looked like another home game. Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois was littered with black and gold along with posters of Hawkeyes fans getting their glimpse of Caitlin Clark.
Iowa was expected to win this game handily and did just that by a score of 110-74 in a game that didn’t even necessarily feel that close. The Hawkeyes went about their business methodically and the Wildcats just happened to be in their way.
One of the other takeaways off the court in this one is the superstar-level following around Caitlin Clark. This was a Wednesday night game at Northwestern, yet there were extra police on hand and fan after fan looking to get her autograph.
I’ve never seen anything quite like this for a college athlete. pic.twitter.com/VQjYO3Ky5s
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 1, 2024
Iowa handled their business in this one cleanly and concisely as you would expect a top team to do. Here are the takeaways from their win over Northwestern.
Hannah Stuelke had a night
Hello, Hannah Stuelke! Have yourself a night, young lady. She stepped up and was a force inside for the Hawkeyes. Seeing her confidence grow and trusting her skillset is huge for Iowa down the stretch.
Stuelke poured in 17 points and nine rebounds on the night as the Hawkeyes’ second-leading scorer.
Dominance in the paint
Tied directly into Stuelke’s performance is the overall domination the Hawkeyes showed in the paint against Northwestern. Iowa doubled up on the Wildcats with 50 points in the paint to their 24. They also outrebounded them 42 to 30.
Iowa can shoot outside and play that game. If they can consistently own the paint, that is another layer of difficulty added to guarding this team.
The whole gang got involved
The entire squad had it working in this one. Caitlin Clark got hers and we will get to that, but without the rest of this team opening things up, she may not be doing what she is doing.
Stuelke had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Gabbie Marshall had 12 points on 4-5 from three. Kate Martin had 16 points and 5 rebounds. The rest of this lineup is just as important and it shows why.
Hawks played a very clean game
It may seem small until it isn’t. The Hawkeyes played a very clean game against Northwestern which, if nothing more, is a good thing to get in the habit of.
Iowa only had five total turnovers and just 13 fouls. Those are the type of little things that show up in March and can be the difference.
One left to go for Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark did it once again. She went into Northwestern and put on another show for yet another sellout road crowd flocking to see her. Clark posted 35 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds.
She is now second on the all-time scoring list and took over the Big Ten all-time scoring record. Clark has 3,424 career points and is chasing Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527. Caitlin Clark needs just 103 points to take over the record. Get ready, history is coming.
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