The Maryland jinx is gone.
Iowa’s women’s basketball team hadn’t won on the Terrapins’ home court since the 1992-93 season, and the last few losses have been quite ugly.
That changed on Saturday night. The No. 3 Hawkeyes shook off a late Maryland rally for a 93-85 win.
Iowa (21-2 overall, 10-1 Big Ten) stayed at the top of the conference standings after leading by as much as 18 points, falling behind by two points in the third quarter, then closing the game with a 19-7 run over the final 6 minutes, 17 seconds.
Some of Iowa’s worst losses over the last few seasons have come at Maryland — there was the 93-59 loss in 2020, the 111-93 loss in 2021 and last year’s 96-68 defeat that cost the Hawkeyes a share of the Big Ten title.
But Iowa didn’t wilt this time in front of a sellout crowd of 17,950.
Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes with 38 points and a season-high 12 assists. Molly Davis had 17 points and Kate Martin had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
THE CLARK COUNTDOWN:
Clark keeps edging closer to becoming the all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball. She had 3,462 points, 65 behind all-time leader Kelsey Plum.
She was knocked around in this game, which usually happens when she plays the Terrapins, but never wavered. Clark was 13-of-29 from the field, 7-of-17 in 3-pointers, and was a perfect 5-of-5 in free throws.
But her 12 assists were also a big key to this win, as she was consistently hounded by multiple Maryland players, which allowed her to find open teammates.
GOOD GOLLY, MOLLY:
Davis has been a more confident player this season, but she was coming off a game against Northwestern on Wednesday in which she took only four shots and finished with three points.
She played 35 minutes in this game, making 7-of-11 shots, including 3-of-5 in 3-pointers. She also had four rebounds and three assists.
Davis has been a good complement to Clark this season, and that’s something Iowa is going to need in the closing weeks of the regular season and into the postseason.
THEY NEVER WAVERED:
Iowa fell behind 11-3 to start the game, and after leading 56-38 with 8:39 left in the third quarter allowed a 25-5 run to fall behind again.
But in an hostile road environment, the Hawkeyes kept answering Maryland runs with runs of their own. A veteran team who has been tested plenty in the last couple of seasons wasn’t about to waver, and it showed when the Hawkeyes closed out the win in the final minutes.
POINTS INSIDE:
Iowa got 44 points in the paint, but there was more to that to the Hawkeyes’ frontcourt production.
Hannah Stuelke had nine points and eight rebounds, but six of those were offensive rebounds. Addison O’Grady had seven rebounds off the bench, playing 14 strong minutes. And Martin was her usual do-everything self, with eight defensive rebounds.
Be the first to comment