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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Iowa women’s basketball suffered its largest margin of defeat this season, falling to Indiana 86-69 at Assembly Hall on Thursday.
Iowa star Caitlin Clark scored 24 points. Clark, however, was not very efficient, shooting 8 of 26 from the field and 3 of 16 from deep. Besides Clark, Kate Martin had 19 points and Hannah Stuelke had 10. Besides that trio, no other Hawkeye individual had more than six.
As a team, Iowa shot 38.8 field goals.
The discrepancy from the three-point line was a major factor in Thursday’s outcome. Indiana shot 9 of 21 (42.9%) from deep. Meanwhile, Iowa shot just 5 of 28 (17.9%) from long range.
Indiana’s Sara Scalia scored 25 and was 3-for-8 from deep. Yardén Garzón contributed 15 and was 3 of 5 from deep. During Iowa’s win over Indiana earlier this season, those two combined for 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field.
On Thursday, Indiana star Mackenzie Holmes also had 24 points.
But part of Tuesday’s problems was also the fact that Indiana out-intensified Iowa. The Hoosiers played with a physicality that Iowa couldn’t match.
This is not to underestimate the difficulty of achieving a victory in the Assembly Hall. Indiana, although coming off a 20-point road loss entering Thursday, is still a good team. And playing in such a raucous environment makes the task even more arduous.
But the extent to which Iowa looked out of place was not encouraging.
Iowa struggled mightily in the first half. Caitlin Clark, who scored 20 of Iowa’s 33 points, didn’t get much help around her. Indiana shot 40% from deep, while Iowa shot just 21.4%. Another concern was Iowa’s lack of intensity. The Hoosiers played with much more advantage than the Hawkeyes.
Further:Caitlin Clark Asked About Indiana Fever: ‘I’m Really Not Too Worried About The Future’
Trailing 44-33 at halftime, Iowa faced a difficult task ahead.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Iowa’s deficit ballooned to 16.
The Hawkeyes finally showed some signs of life, going on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 11. But Indiana’s Sydney Parrish responded by hitting 3-pointers on consecutive Hoosier offensive possessions.
Iowa, however, continued to fight back. At the end of the third quarter, the difference had been reduced to eight points.
But Indiana closed the door, outscoring Iowa by nine in the fourth quarter. In the second and fourth quarters combined, the Hoosiers outscored the Hawkeyes by 19 points.
Further:Leistikow: Some context needed before conversations between Caitlin and Pistol Pete begin
Iowa’s path to winning a Big Ten title, or at least a piece of it, took a major hit Tuesday. The Hawkeyes, now 12-3 in the conference, are now behind Ohio State and Indiana in the Big Ten standings.
Ohio State is at the top of the pack with a 14-1 conference record. Indiana, which has played one more Big Ten game than Iowa, is now 13-3 in the conference. Iowa is 12-3.
Iowa doesn’t have much time to advance, especially with Ohio State. The Hawkeyes have three more games in the regular season: Illinois (home), Minnesota (away) and Ohio State (home). The Buckeyes now control their own destiny and can capture an outright Big Ten championship title if they win.
To even have a shot at leading the table, Iowa needs to win and get help elsewhere.
This magnifies some of Iowa’s collapses earlier this season. The Hawkeyes blew fourth-quarter leads on the road against Ohio State and Nebraska this season. That made their margin for error so small, which again hurt them in a game like this, where losing in a challenging environment could derail their chances of winning the Big Ten title.
When it comes to the Big Ten title race, Thursday could be a blow that Iowa can’t recover from.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X@Tyler_T15contact via email atttachman@gannett.com