In a matchup of Final Four participants from last season, it was the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes that emerged with a key early-season, resume-building victory over No. 5 Virginia Tech in the Ally Tipoff from Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
It reaffirmed what everyone knew coming in: Hawkeye senior guard Caitlin Clark is the nation’s clear best player and Iowa is a legitimate player to cut down the nets and win a national championship come next spring in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The West Des Moines superstar authored up another one of her virtuoso performances, scoring 44 points in the made-for-TV showdown. It’s the ninth time that Clark has eclipsed the 40-point plateau in her career.
She also knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with eight rebounds and six assists.
Sophomore Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke showed more signs that she’s ready to step into the full-time limelight as well, finishing with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Her connection with Clark is only getting better with each passing outing.
Graduate student guard Kate Martin was the only other Hawkeye in double-figure scoring, adding 10 points.
Back from an ACL injury that cost her last season, redshirt junior guard Kylie Feuerbach gave Iowa some key minutes as well. The 6-foot native of Sycamore, Ill., knocked down a key second-half 3-pointer and finished with eight points.
Naturally, social media was buzzing after the Hawkeyes’ massive top-10 triumph over Virginia Tech.