IOWA CITY
14,998 fans packed Carver Hawkeye Arena today as Iowa grad and WNBA star Caitlin Clark was in Iowa City for the women’s basketball game and to retire her jersey. Former teammates Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin were courtside, along with retired Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, and former late night talk show host David Letterman to cheer the team on.
Caitlin Clark’s presence brought some magic in the first quarter as the Hawkeyes dominated 4th ranked USC despite being a 12.5 point underdog. This team and crowd brought energy not seen in the arena since last season as USC struggled to put points on the board. McCabe hit the first 3 and Iowa didn’t look back. With 18 points to USCs 4 at the end of the first quarter, Iowa dominated on both end of the court with 5 steals causing USC to turnover the ball 7 times. USC shot 1 for 14 to Iowa’s 7-19 with JuJu Watkins being the sole scorer for USC this quarter.
USC quieted down Hawk fans in the second quarter going on a 17-1 scoring run. The momentum grinded to a halt with a much slower half with several fouls putting both teams in the bonus before halftime. USC outscored Iowa 15-10 and a layup from USCs JuJu Watson pushed USC into the lead at the buzzer with the halftime score being 29-28.
The third quarter was a physical battle with both teams fighting hard for each and every bucket. They traded shots and points back and forth. Throughout. Iowa’s O’Grady and Stuelke played key parts under the basket but Stuelke picked up her fourth foul putting her on the bench. Fouls played a major part with both teams in the bonus early in the quarter. Iowa was able to close the gap at the end of the quarter when Iowa’s Olsen hit a shot at the buzzer putting Iowa in the lead 50-51.
The fourth quarter was a edge of your seat time for Iowa fans. Olsen and O’Grady were both driving forces for the Hawks responsible for all of the team’s 21 points in the first 8 minutes of the quarter putting them ahead 62-72 with less than two minutes left to play. Iowa’s points were not unanswered but all the momentum seemed to be in the Hawks favor. Following the Olsen Ogrady domination, Affolter hit two from the line putting the hawks ahead by 9 with just over 1 minuite left. This quarter was full of steals, buckets, twists and turns, but most of all Hawkeye momentum as they maintained possession and the lead while being sent to the line with the foul bonus in their favor. Iowa pulled off the upset 69-76 with Olsen leading scoring with 28 points and O’Grady with 13. USC’s JuJu Watkins led her team with 27 but it just wasn’t enough to stop the Hawkeyes today.
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