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Iowa women's basketball pushes past Kansas State to win Gulf Coast Showcase – Hawk Central
ESTERO, Fla. — They knew it’d be another grueling task, even with the experience and knowledge gained from a troubling first matchup just 10 days earlier. The Hawkeyes and Wildcats certainly don’t make things easy on each other.
There was foul trouble to overcome, plus Kansas State’s usual suffocating defense that offers little room for error. This was a mental hurdle the Hawkeyes had to clear more than anything.
Leaning on its crowd support and ample experience, No. 6 Iowa pushed through the muck for a 77-70 win over the No. 22 Wildcats to win Sunday’s Gulf Coast Showcase title game at Hertz Arena. The win countered the 65-58 victory Kansas State grabbed Nov. 16 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, while emphasizing Iowa’s ability to adjust on the fly and thrive in winning time.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” said Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, who took home tournament MVP after scoring 32 points Sunday. “They went on a little run there in the fourth quarter again, but we just responded and stayed together.”
Despite owning a 10-point lead with 7:34 remaining, Iowa (7-1) couldn’t shake free from Kansas State (6-1) until, really, when the final horn sounded. The Wildcats ripped off an 11-0 run to grab a 68-67 advantage with 2:44 left. Was this really going to morph into another Iowa stumble?
Not with these veteran pieces.
Kate Martin grabbed the lead back with a tough driving layup to punctuate her double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). Clark, with her tongue out demanding noise, splashed home a pair of treys in the span of a minute — the second one handing Iowa a 75-70 lead with 47 seconds to go. Although Clark stunningly missed three of four free throws from there, the Hawkeyes had enough breathing room to fend off this pesky foe.
SATURDAY’S GAME:Iowa women’s basketball dismantles Florida Gulf Coast to set up Kansas State rematch
Clark finished 10-for-25 from the field, including 7-for-16 deep, while delivering nine of Iowa’s 14 fourth-quarter points. Although it wasn’t the cleanest night from Iowa’s offensive attack, Sunday was a far cry from the unprecedented shooting struggles seen in the first Kansas State matchup.
“I thought we did a much better job of being in control when we got to the paint,” Clark said, “finding shooters who were open, passing it to our posts when they made themselves available. Kansas State provided help every single time we drove into the paint. We put in a couple plays that worked well for us. Just little tweaks and adjustments (from the first matchup).
“But I think overall, we just had a bad night the last time we played them. They’re a really great team and play really great defense. They can cause you to miss shots, and they have great length at their guard positions. But I think we just played harder and managed the game a lot better in end-of-game situations.”
All that arrived after a first half that blended triumph and turbulence en route to a small Iowa lead.
The Hawkeyes came barreling out with a 27-point first quarter, 14 more than Iowa delivered in the opening 10 minutes last time versus Kansas State. The Hawkeyes’ cushion ballooned to as much as 13 and remained at double digits two minutes into the second quarter.
FRIDAY’S GAME:Caitlin Clark, Iowa women’s basketball roll by Purdue Fort Wayne in Gulf Coast Showcase
Then the fouls started piling up down low — and Sunday’s affair soon mirrored the struggles Iowa had while defending Ayoka Lee the first time around. Addison O’Grady picked up two fouls guarding her in the first quarter, Sharon Goodman was hit with two in the second, and Iowa suddenly had a major problem on its hands.
With Hannah Stuelke again sidelined after Friday’s injury, Iowa turned to little-used forward A.J. Ediger to try to combat Lee’s size and strength. At one point, the Hawkeyes rolled five guards out — Clark, Gabbie Marshall, Martin, Sydney Affolter and Molly Davis — with Martin shouldering much of the interior defense.
“I thought we handled that situation as well as you could,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “But Ayoka Lee is a lot to try to defend. She drew seven fouls against us. That’s a lot.”
Kansas State pounced on the advantage, outscoring Iowa by 11 in the second quarter to create a one-point game at halftime. Even after the Hawkeyes went back up double figures in the third, Kansas State was dead set on delivering a 40-minute fight.
All told, the adversity Kansas State generated in these two matchups should propel the Hawkeyes into December with some valuable war wounds. They conquered another tournament setting while rebounding in a short window against a squad that exploits many of Iowa’s weaknesses.
“We’re playing back-to-back-to-back, so we know how to deal with the scout (in a short window),” said Davis, who was also named to the all-tournament team after scoring 13 points Sunday. “This can set us up for success, (particularly) at the Big Ten Tournament.”
Not a bad first month.
A snapshot of Sunday’s intensity arrived with a little over seven minutes remaining, Iowa trying to limit Lee as best as possible. She finished with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting but went just 2-for-6 at the line, including one fourth-quarter miss after a wild sequence on the sideline.
Amid another demonstrative plea from the Iowa bench for a three-second call on Lee parked in the paint, Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie interjected into a spirited discussion between Bluder and official Kevin Pethtel.
Bluder was about to head back toward her sideline when Mittie gestured toward the Iowa bench and yelled something that whipped Bluder’s head around with a new level of anger. This wasn’t no longer an officiating issue.
It took associate head coach Jan Jensen two separate attempts to settle down Bluder, who went back to Pethtel while angrily pointing at Mittie after what had just unfolded.
Both sides eventually retreated and went through the handshake line afterward with no issue.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had an (opposing) coach yell at me from the sidelines ever in my coaching career,” Bluder said. “I’m talking to the official. I’m not talking to him.”
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.