Iowa’s offense meets Michigan’s defense in Big Ten tournament semifinal

Through 31 minutes of play Friday, Caitlin Clark had yet to hit one of her signature three-pointers. An 0-for-11 start from deep was unprecedented for college basketball’s all-time leading scorer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her miss 11 threes in a row,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “That could probably include practice and everything else. I’ve never seen that.”

When that first shot swished through the net with 8:39 to go in the fourth quarter, Clark looked like a large weight had been taken off of her shoulders. She stuck her tongue out and raised her arms in the air, as if to say, “finally.”

The three-pointer, Clark’s first of the game, put Iowa up by 22.

It was Clark’s worst shooting performance in nearly two years, dating to Iowa’s second-round loss to Creighton in the 2022 NCAA tournament. Yet, the Hawkeyes took down Penn State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals by 33 points.

Iowa’s supporting cast showed out against the Nittany Lions. Sydney Affolter, making her fourth career start, scored 18 points with nine rebounds and five assists. Gabbie Marshall hit four three-pointers en route to 15 points while also collecting three steals. Taylor McCabe and Kate Martin had 12 and 11 points, respectively. And in Clark’s worst shooting game of the season, she still had 24 points, 10 boards and seven assists.

“Shooting is just one part of the game; I thought I did really, really good in this game of letting it go,” Clark said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get up there and shoot the next one, but honestly maybe that’s my poison sometimes. I’m just going to launch it. That’s just how it’s going to be.”

It was a reminder of how dangerous Iowa’s entire roster can be. Even on an off day from their star guard, the nation’s top scoring offense still put up 95 points and hit 15 threes. With the NCAA tournament approaching, Clark will have a target on her back to opposing defense, meaning that kind of depth is crucial in the Hawkeyes’ pursuit for a national title.

Even though No. 1-seeded Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana and No. 4 Michigan State all lost in the quarterfinals Friday, Iowa’s road to the Big Ten championship game is hardly a cakewalk. The Hawkeyes will face off against Michigan on Saturday, fresh off a dominant second half where they completely shut down the Indiana offense.

The Wolverines own the conference’s top defense, surrendering only 63 points per outing. Michigan started Friday’s game slowly and was down by as many as 17 points early in the third before outscoring the Hoosiers by 30 over the game’s final 19 minutes.

All-Big Ten guard Laila Phelia led the way on both sides of the floor for the Wolverines. She scored 30 points — 20 in the second half — largely by way of driving to the paint and finishing through contact. When faced with trouble, she passed out to Lauren Hansen, who went 3-of-3 from deep in the final quarter.

“I think our confidence grew as the game went on,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “I think Laila Phelia showed why she’s one of the best players in the country, and I thought she did a tremendous job late when they started to really double her and try to load on her of finding Lauren. Lauren is one of the best shooters in the country, one of the best playmakers in the country, so they found each other.”

The second semifinal Saturday will be a match between the league’s top offense and defense, but the last time they played, the game went anything but Michigan’s way. It was the night Clark broke the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record, when she finished with 49 points and couldn’t seem to miss as offense ran rampant in Iowa’s 106-89 victory a month ago. Barnes Arico is looking forward to a second shot at the Hawkeyes.

“We got to go to their place and be a part of that special night for Caitlin and for Iowa, and that was extremely challenging for us,” Barnes Arico said. “We hung around for a good period of time, but they got us down the stretch. I think this gives us another opportunity to maybe get them on a neutral court and see if we can be better on the defensive end tomorrow than we were at Iowa.”