Skills gained as Iowa women’s basketball overtakes Nebraska after a sluggish start
This was a lot better defensive performance by Iowa, which gives them more confidence after they had earlier shown some weaknesses. This demonstrated this team’s defensive prowess.
The narrative, which is one game after another, centers on senior guard Caitlin Clark’s amazing performance. She seemed to be exhausting all she put up in the third and fourth quarters after a sluggish first half.
The Hawkeyes’ victory over the Cornhuskers raised their record to 19-2 overall (8-1 Big Ten). These are the lessons learned from the Hawkeyes victory.
Iowa announced their intention to play defense.
Following Ohio State’s 100-point defeat, Lisa Bluder’s team was prepared to play defense. In the first quarter, the Cornhuskers had a terrible time both scoring and even hanging onto the ball.
In the first quarter, Iowa forced six turnovers from Nebrsaka and restricted him to 4-of-18 shooting from the field. Nebraska shot 11 of 33 from the field in the half, committing 10 turnovers, and only had 31 points at the half. That’s a message from Lisa Bluder and a calculated defensive move.
A strong defense has a cost.
Did the Hawkeyes’ excellent defensive play in the first half have an impact? Even though Iowa shot 13 of 29 from the field at half, which isn’t too awful, they only scored 36 points at the half. However, their 3-for-13 performance from three-point range slowed down the very effective attack.
There seemed to be a little trade-off from solid defense translating into the normal offense, but Iowa did close the half on a 9-0 run, finding some energy and igniting the crowd.
The igniter was Sydney Affolter.
Before Sydney Affolter ignited the game, things were poised to allow Nebraska to lead at the break. To demonstrate her intensity, she stole the ball from the Cornhuskers for a putback. The Hawkeyes then answered.
At the half, Affolter contributed three rebounds and seven points after coming off the bench. Carver-Hawkeye Arena was packed because of her, who ignited Iowa’s 9-0 surge to end the first half.
Halftime tweaks woke up the Hawkeyes.
Iowa held Nebraska at bay until the half, but as soon as the third quarter got underway, Iowa pressed forward and never looked back. Lisa Bluder and her team deserve recognition for this.
They changed things up and gave the Hawkeyes a whole new level of energy.The Hawkeyes shot 9 of 13 in the fourth quarter to outscore Nebraska 27–18 and take a 14–point advantage into the last quarter.
Caitlin Clark is someone you can only hold for so long.
Caitlin Clark was restrained by Nebraska for the majority of the first half, and they deserve some credit for that. That is a greater level of achievement than many teams have achieved while facing Clark this season.
The dam finally gave way, and that occurred during the third quarter when Caitlin Clark awoke from three quarters ago and regained her identity. To start things off, she made four three-pointers in the third.
Caitlin Clark had a slow start to the game, but she heated up for Iowa in the second half and is still chasing the all-time scoring record.