By Marisol Nicholson
4 1 2024
IOWA GAME NOTES
https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-com/2024/03/6193e88e-iawbb23_notes_ncaae8.pdf
THIS WEEK
1-Seed Iowa will face 3-Seed LSU in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Monday. Tip-off is set for 6:15 p.m. (CT) inside MVP Arena in Albany, New York.
WATCH/FOLLOW ALONG
» Monday’s contest will air nationally on ESPN, the Hawkeye Radio Network, and Sirius XM Channel 210/203.
AUDIO COVERAGE
» Rob Brooks and Tiff Reedy will call the action on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
» Brooks is in his eighth year as the play-by-play announcer for the Iowa women’s basketball team. He has been Iowa football’s sideline reporter since 2004. Brooks has called seven different Iowa sports on radio or television.
» Reedy was four-year letterwinner from 2002-06 at Iowa and is a native of Dysart, Iowa.
THE SERIES
» The all-time series is tied, 2-2.
» In the last meeting, LSU beat Iowa in the 2023 National Championship, 102-85 in Dallas, Texas.
SCOUTING LSU
» Features two players who consistently get double-doubles in Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow. They are the only teammates in the country to both have 20+ double-doubles.
» Morrow and Reese both have over 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. They are only two of five active players across NCAA DI.
» LSU’s path: 14-Seed Rice, 11-Seed Middle Tennessee, and 2-Seed UCLA.
IOWA’S 1-SEED HISTORY
» The Hawkeyes have been a No. 1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament three times in school history. (1988, 1992, and 2024)
» Iowa is 5-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as 1-Seed.
» UI has never played in the Elite Eight as a No. 1 Seed.
2023 NCAA TOURNAMENT IN REVIEW
» Clark became the first player in DI women’s basketball history to notch a 1,000+ points and 300+ assists single season in 2023. Clark is closing in on that this season.
» Clark produced the first 40-point triple-double in men’s or women’s NCAA Tournament history against UL. (41p, 12a, 10r)
» Against Louisville and South Carolina, Clark was the first player to net back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA Tourney.
» In month of March in 2023, Marshall was 23-of-47 from deep.
WHAT 2 WATCH 4
» Clark is seven 3-pointers from breaking Taylor Robertson’s (Oklahoma) 3-point career field goal record. (537)
» Iowa is 8-4 when Clark records 40 or more points.
» Marshall is 23-of-47 from deep in the last six games.
» Clark has 65 career games with 25+ points, 5+ assists, and 5+ rebounds. (NCAA Best)
» Over the last 25 seasons, no has recorded more 30+ point games in men’s or women’s college basketball than Clark. (57)
» Martin has recorded 15+ points in 16 games this year which is a career best.
» Clark has seven games of 10+ assists in the NCAA Tournament, which ties Baylor’s Niya Johnson since 2009.
» Since 2019, the Hawkeyes are 14-4 in the NCAA Tournament.
» Martin has registered a career-best five double-doubles this season.
» Iowa is 5-0 when Martin records a double-double in 2023-24.
» Clark has 20 games in her career with 35+ points, 5+ assists, 5+ rebounds which is the most in women’s college basketball since 2009-10.
» Clark has registered 25+ points, 5+ assists, and 5+ rebounds in 23 out of the last 29 games.
» Among active players whom didn’t transfer, Marshall (127) and Martin (124) are third and fourth nationally for most active wins in a career.
GROUP EFFORT
» Since Davis’ injury, Affolter is 25-of-43 from the floor, 7-of-12 from three point range, and 21-of-22 from the charity stripe.
» Iowa broke the Big Ten’s single season record for 3-pointers made which was set by Iowa (350) a season ago. The Hawkeyes have made 397 treys this season.
» Iowa has made 63 three-point baskets in postseason play.
» Stuelke is 27-of-37 from the free throw line the last six games.
» Since February, Iowa is shooting 174-430 (40%) from three.
» Iowa has assisted on 66% of its field goals this year.
LISA BLUDER’S LEGACY
» Bluder owns 18 AP Top 10 wins which is the most in program history.
» Has the 10th most wins in Division-I women’s basketball history and is third among active DI head coaches. (882)
» Bluder is 21-17 all-time in NCAA Tournaments at Iowa.
» Owns the most Big Ten conference wins in conference history.
» Won seven Big Ten titles. (5 BTT’s and 2 Regular Season)
» 1-of-27 Division I women’s basketball coaches to win 20+ games in the NCAA Tournament at one institution.
» Coached two consensus National POYs.
» Has coached the Hawkeyes to two Elite Eights since 2019.
» She has led UI to the Sweet 16 (2021), Elite Eight (2019), National Championship (2023) in three out of the last four championship seasons. (Covid)
» Owns eight straight 20-win seasons. It is the longest streak in her career, C. Vivian Stringer had 10 consecutive 20+ win seasons from 1984-94.
IOWA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
ALBANY, N.Y. – Two of the nation’s top-scoring offenses will go head-to-head on Monday night at 6:15 p.m. CT on ESPN when No. 3 LSU (31-4) and No. 1 Iowa (32-4) for an Elite Eight matchup in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship.
Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe will call the action on ESPN. Fans can listen to Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network, 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.
Two of the main faces of women’s college basketball will meet once again. Angel Reese has recorded nine straight double-doubles for LSU in the NCAA Tournament, tied for a tournament record. Her profile ballooned after she and LSU scored a NCAA Championship game record 102 points to take down Iowa. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, a generational player, owns the NCAA scoring record and is the first player in Division-I history with 3,800+ points, 1,000+ assists and 950+ rebounds.
Both teams have drawn record crowds at home and on the road while also driving historic television ratings. Last year’s championship game drew a women’s basketball record 9.9-million viewers on ABC. Monday’s crowd at MVP Arena will be packed to the brim and the ESPN broadcast is expected to draw well once again as both teams compete for a chance to advance to the Final Four in Cleveland.
“It’s just another game to help grow women’s basketball,” Reese said. “It’s going to be unfortunate, of course, to play them just in the Regionals, but of course we’re just happy to be a part of it. We’re happy where we are right now.”
“You’ve got two very talented players that have brought a lot of attention to our sport,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “They both trash talk. They both make their teammates better. They both have their teammates’ back. They have both elevated our game to where we have people watching that never watched women’s basketball before. Yeah, those are tough women.”
This year’s LSU team is different than the one the beat Iowa last year on April 2. Flau’Jae Johnson, Last-Tear Poa and Reese are the only players on this year’s team that played in the championship game. Hailey Van Lith has experience at this level of the NCAA Tournament, reaching three Elite Eights and one Final Four at Louisville. Aneesah Morrow, a transfer from DePaul, is playing in her first NCAA Tournament as are freshmen Mikaylah Williams and Aalyah Del Rosario.
“Well, each of us are a new team,” Coach Kim Mulkey said Sunday. “We’re not the same team we were last year, nor are they. But you certainly have some key pieces on each team. Our game plan will not even mention what we did last year because we don’t have the same personnel.”
Johnson was electric for the Tigers in the Saturday win over UCLA. She had 24 points and 12 rebounds with 2 blocks to help send LSU to the Elite Eight with her second double-double of the year. In postseason play this season, including the SEC Tournament, Johnson is averaging a team-leading 19.7 points, 5.3 rebound with 14 assists, 13 steals and 8 blocks.
“I can describe Flau’Jae in so many ways because I get to see her every day and coach her on her good days and her bad days,” Coach Mulkey said. “As you watch Flau’Jae play and you’re just a casual fan that has no allegiance to LSU, you watch her and you go, wow, I just like watching her perform.”
Against UCLA, Angel Reese recorded her ninth NCAA Tournament double-double in a row going back to last season – tied for the tournament record for consecutive double-doubles. Morrow scored 17 in the win and Williams had 12 points. Van Lith had 5 assists to one turnover while hitting critical free-throws in the game’s closing minutes and also took a charge to help secure the win down the stretch.
“I think at the end of the day, I’m just trying to make winning plays, and I think in the fourth quarter I was able to come up with some winning plays for us,” Van Lith said. “I would rather be known as a winner than a scorer because at the end of the day, if all you’re going to ask me to do is score, that’s something that I can definitely do. Yeah, I think at this point it’s about making winning plays.”
The Tigers are one win away from reaching its second straight Final Four. When LSU dropped its season opener against Colorado, who Iowa defeated Saturday to reach the Elite Eight, it marked the third time one of her teams have lost a season opener. On the other two occasions, Coach Mulkey led those teams to two Final Fours, including a 2005 national championship victory.
Clark, who is looking to garner National Player of the Year honors for the second straight year, will go down as one of the game’s greatest players. This season she is averaging 31.7 points, 8.9 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game. Everything for Iowa runs through Clark, but she is not the only capable player on the Hawkeye’s roster. Hannah Stuelke averages 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds for them in the post. Kate Martin scores 12.8 points per game. Because Clark draws so much defensive attention, her teammates capitalize on hitting open shots and making good cuts to the basket because Clark can find them.
“It’s just like I want to compete at the highest level, and right now Caitlin is the highest level,” Johnson said. “So if I can defend her, try to contain her and get the win, we’ll be fine. There’s no stopping her, but containing her, I’m going to take on that challenge.”
COURTESY LSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
