IOWA CITY — Midway through the second week of the women’s basketball season, another giant has fallen.
This time, it’s the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Written by Jeff Linder | The Gazette
Kansas State scored the final 12 points and stunned No. 2 Iowa, 65-58, before a sellout crowd of 14,998 Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“We just weren’t Iowa basketball,” said Caitlin Clark, who endured a 9-of-32 shooting performance, 1-of-10 in the fourth quarter. “As the point guard, I have to take responsibility for that.”
Of the top 10 teams in the preseason Associated Press poll, Iowa was the eighth to fall. And it’s only mid-November.
“I thought last year was an exciting year,” K-State Coach Jeff Mittie said after the Wildcats knocked off a top-five Iowa team for the second straight year (it was 84-83 last season in Manhattan). “You’re seeing so many great players in the game right now.”
And the Wildcats (3-0) have one of them back in Ayoka Lee. The 6-foot-6 senior post, an ACL casualty last year, registered 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Kansas State center Ayoka Lee (50) reacts after a foul is called against the Hawkeyes. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Kansas State center Ayoka Lee (50) reacts after a foul is called against the Hawkeyes. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
K-State came into Thursday’s game as the third-best defensive team in the nation, at 37.0 points per game. They held the Hawkeyes (3-1) 34 points below their average of 92.0 per contest.
“It was a rough night for the Hawks,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “There was no flow to the game, and we couldn’t get our transition game going.”
Still, the Hawkeyes led 58-53 when Sydney Affolter hit one of two free throws with 2:40 left.
They didn’t score again, and they didn’t register a field goal for the final 4:20.
“Every game, we want to take pride in our defense,” Lee said. “Our goal is to get three stops in a row, seven times in a game.”
Lee’s two free throws with 1:12 left gave K-State a 59-58 edge, and Iowa’s last four possessions consisted of three missed 3-pointers by Clark, and a turnover.
“My shot wasn’t falling, and I didn’t do myself any favors by getting to the basket,” said Clark, who still led all scorers with 24 points.
Molly Davis added 10 points for the Hawkeyes; Hannah Stuelke posted nine points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing 42-35 midway through the third quarter, Iowa put together its best stretch of the game, holding the Wildcats scoreless for 7 minutes, 46 seconds and assembling a 13-0 run for a 48-42 lead.
Back-to-back buckets by Davis made it 52-46.
“Our outside shots weren’t falling,” Davis said. “I wanted to make an emphasis in getting to the rim.”
The Hawkeyes were 2 of 21 from 3-point range. Clark was 2 of 16.
“Sometimes the shots don’t fall and you have to find other ways to win,” Clark said. “They played great defense, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. Our transition in general wasn’t very good.”
Iowa’s post trio of Stuelke, Sharon Goodman and Addison O’Grady were a combined 7 of 12 from the floor. The rest of the squad was 15 of 49.
“The posts have to have more looks. We have to have faith in them, and I don’t know if we do,” Bluder said.
Other than that surge that sandwiched the third-quarter break, the Hawkeyes never got out of second gear offensively.
“We were able to keep them from getting easy run-outs,” Mittie said. “Stuelke didn’t get any layups in transition. (Gabbie) Marshall didn’t have any 3s in transition. We wanted to make that hard.”
The Hawkeyes will host Drake at 6 p.m. Sunday.
“This loss isn’t going to break our season,” Clark said. “The exciting part is that we get to come back to work tomorrow.”
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