Believe it or not by the final score, Loyola Chicago (6-5) gave No. 3 Iowa (12-1, 1-0 Big Ten) a legitimate test throughout the first half of Thursday night.
The Ramblers entered Carver-Hawkeye Arena winners of four straight and looked like they might hang around with the Hawkeyes during the contest’s first 20 minutes. Loyola built a seven point lead early in the second quarter and the Ramblers regained the lead with 1:46 remaining in the first half on an Ali Berg 3-pointer.
But, there was too much Caitlin Clark and too much from the Hawkeyes’ other two leading scorers as Iowa jumped back in front to end the first half and then busted things wide open after the break en route to a 98-69 win.
The Hawkeyes outscored Loyola Chicago 8-2 in the final 1:46 of the first half to grab a 51-46 halftime lead. Then, Iowa outscored Loyola Chicago 47-23 after halftime.
Clark recorded her 13th career triple-double, racking up 35 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. The senior superstar connected on 12-of-21 field goal attempts and 4-of-12 from 3-point distance. She also had one block and one steal.
Sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke added 20 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting. Graduate guard Kate Martin finished with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists as she knocked down three 3-pointers.
Social media responded accordingly to another big Hawkeye win!