Hawkeye fans brought the energy to Saturday afternoon’s women’s semifinals game in Minneapolis. The “Carver North” signs were in the up in the air and so was the cheering with the crowd vocally hanging on every play. They were treated to not only a Hawk victory but a typical Caitlin Clark domination of the game.
Clark came out strong in the first and broke the curse of missed shots from yesterday’s game by opening the board with a jumpshot at 1:30 followed by draining a 3 at 2:30. Hawks continued to lead until around the 6 minute mark when Michigan tied it up at 15 points.
Michigan continued to battle and took the lead for a couple minutes with some sharpshooting 3 pointers putting in their first 7 of 7 shots from 3 point range. The first period ended with Michigan leading 22-25.
The Hawks brought back the energy with a blistering pace in the second period led by Clark and Affolter. This game was what fans are used to where if you blink you miss three plays. Affolter still on fire from a personal record game the day prior ended the first half with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists not to mention one steal for good measure. Clark ended the first half with 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 11 assists putting her well on the well to another potential triple double. Hawks led 51-42 at the half.
The third period saw the Hawks expand their lead to 15 ending the period with 72-55 on the scoreboard. The third period saw a much slower less aggressive pace from both teams. Stuelke was the leading scorer in the third scoring 6. Hawks struggled to put in threes only hitting one (Affolter) out of 6 team attempts. Overall, only hitting 50% of their field goals and bringing down the hot shooting stats from the first half. The third also seemed marred by several foul calls going both ways drawing jeers and boos from the crowd.
Hawks continued to separate themselves from the competition in the final period by raining threes. Shooting 5 for 8 from the three point line in the fourth (all 5 scored by different shooters). Clark came out strong again this period with a jumper followed by a three. Clark also put a full court press on Michigan’s Hansen and came up with a steal and an easy layup making the arena go crazy. The Hawkeyes were able to clear the bench again this game letting everyone contribute to the win. That being said, this game was Clark’s continued comeback from late last game. She put 28 points on the board with a sizzling 15 assists showing her clear control of the game. Hawks scored 23 while Michigan was held to 13 putting the final game score at 95-68. Go Hawks!
The Hawks will play in the final Sunday at 11am central. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
Big 10 Tournament coverage sponsored by Muscatine Lumber.
