As Caitlin Clark goes, so goes No. 2 Iowa. On an evening the place its star went 9 of 32 from the ground, the Hawkeyes had been unable to seek out sufficient from different contributors to carry again Kansas State, because the Wildcats went into Carver-Hawkeye Area and sprang a 65-58 upset on Thursday evening.
Senior heart Ayoka Lee, who missed all of final season with an damage, led the Wildcats with 22 factors and 12 rebounds and mentioned this win felt “superb” and “made all of final 12 months so price it.”
“I am simply simply so grateful. I feel everybody fought. We knew it was going to be a 40-minute battle,” Lee mentioned on the printed after the sport. “A lot gratitude for my teammates, for our coaches, and simply the best way we ready and fought.”
Iowa, forward by a degree at halftime, was by no means in a position to management a recreation that noticed 9 lead adjustments in what proved to be a bodily battle. Kansas State discovered a 42-35 benefit after the break, however Iowa roared again on a 7-0 run in lower than two minutes within the third quarter to tie it.
Ok-State then turned up the warmth within the fourth quarter, outscoring the host Hawkeyes 23-14 during the last 10 minutes and ending the evening on a 12-0 run.
Kansas State held Iowa to 36% capturing because the Hawkeyes made simply 22 area objectives on the night, a stat introduced down because of their struggles from past the arc, the place they shot 2 of 21. Clark registered 24 factors to guide all scorers, but it surely wasn’t her finest capturing evening because the Iowa guard went 9 of 32 from the sphere.
Lisa Bluder’s squad didn’t rating any factors within the final 2:43. The highest offense within the nation final 12 months, Iowa misplaced key items in Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock, who shared offensive duties with Clark. Their absence was undoubtedly felt on Thursday as Molly Davis and Hannah Stuelke added 10 and 9 factors, respectively, however they tried simply 9 area objectives between them.
Kansas State unfold out its offense somewhat extra, with 5 gamers registering at the very least seven factors. Freshman guard Zyanna Walker was the opposite double-digit scorer for the Wildcats, with 12 factors on 5-of-10 capturing.
The win tied the Wildcats’ highest-ranked victory in program historical past (additionally they beat No. 2 Previous Dominion in 1982), in line with ESPN.
This has been an attention-grabbing begin to the 2023-24 girls’s basketball season. The preseason No. 1 and No. 2 groups, LSU and UConn, took losses throughout Week 1. Now Iowa can also be leaving the listing of undefeated groups. Per ESPN, the three losses by prime two groups have tied for probably the most earlier than the tip of November within the final 25 years.
