No. 22 Iowa quells No. 5 Indiana's rally, wins 96-91
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Monika Czinano scored 22 points, Caitlin Clark added 16 of her 18 points in the second half and No. 5 Indiana's fourth quarter rally fell short in a 96-91 loss to No. 22 Iowa on Saturday.
Indiana (19-5, 11-3 Big Ten) scored a program-record 42 points in the fourth quarter to close a 22-point deficit, but missed its last three shots. Iowa (17-7, 11-4) had 25 points in the quarter and made nine of 14 free throws to close the game.
'œFor our offense, 25 points is good,'ť Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. 'œWhen you're behind like that, you can take some risks. Sometimes they pay off, and I think they paid off sometimes for them today.'ť
The teams combined to miss 11 of their first 12 shots. Iowa then made nine of its next 11, jumping out to a 23-8 lead. Iowa never trailed and led by as much as 24. The Hawkeyes were up 22 heading into the final quarter before Indiana rallied.
'œWe just dug ourselves a hole in the first half,'ť Indiana coach Teri Moren said. 'œWe were playing catch up throughout. We looked a little shell shocked there in the first half, the first quarter in particular.'ť
Aleksa Gulbe scored 22 points to lead Indiana. Grace Berger scored 21 and Ali Patberg scored 18.
The Hoosiers focused most of their defensive efforts on Clark in the first half. Clark, who only had two points in the half, still had seven assists, including four to Czinano. Clark shot better in the second half, making 6 of 10 shots. She finished the game with 12 assists for a double-double.
'œEven though she didn't shoot the ball as well in the first half, and give credit to Indiana's defense, she found other ways to help,'ť Bluder said. 'œThat was getting Monika the ball, finding her teammates.'ť
Iowa, which came into the game averaging 84 points, scored the most points that the Indiana defense has allowed all season. Indiana gave up 72 to Nebraska on Monday. Indiana's 91 points were tied for a season-high offensively.
The Hawkeyes finished the game shooting 56.7% and 10 of 19 from beyond the arc. Indiana shot 42.5% and made 6 of 21 3-pointers. Both teams shot over 57% in the fourth quarter.
'œWe respect Indiana, they're such a great basketball team,'ť Bluder said. 'œWe knew we had to bring everything to the table today.'ť
BIG PICTURE
Iowa: The Hawkeyes spread out the Hoosiers on defense, with six different Iowa players hitting a 3-pointer. Four different Iowa players scored at least 10 points.
Indiana: The Hoosiers lost their second Big Ten game of the week after falling to Nebraska on Monday and dropped to second in the conference behind Maryland. Indiana and Maryland play Friday.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
In their record-breaking fourth quarter, the Hoosiers had 28 shots and made 16. They had 14 second chance points, six offensive rebounds and 11 points off eight turnovers.
SENIOR NIGHT
Indiana celebrated senior night for four of its players after the game: Patberg, Gulbe, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Grace Waggoner. The home loss was only the second of the season for the Hoosiers.
'œI'm disappointed for those seniors out there (on the court) enjoying their moment,'ť Moren said.
UP NEXT
Indiana and Iowa will rematch Monday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The game was rescheduled from Jan. 23.
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