Iowa’s Caitlin Clark Had An Insane First Half Today

Iowa men’s basketball bowed out of the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon, with a loss to Oregon. Lisa Bluder’s women’s basketball team, a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, looks like it will keep on playing into the second weekend, thanks in large part to Caitlin Clark.

Clark, a 6-foot freshman guard, has been dominant for the Hawkeyes this season. She is averaging 26.7 points per game this year, shooting 47-percent from the field and 41-percent from three.

She nearly matched that season average in the first half, blowing up for 24 first half points against 4-seed Kentucky. She outscored the Wildcats by herself through two quarters, and the Hawkeyes held them to just 22 points, taking a 49-22 lead into the half.

She leads all scorers, and has added five rebounds and four assists. She’s 9-of-14 from the field, and an impressive 6-for-9 from three point range so far. This is one heck of a performance, even if she hit the bench right now and called it a day.

Kentucky has rebounded a bit in the third quarter, but still trails 64-44 as of this writing. Rhyne Howard leads the Wildcats with 12 points.

McKenna Warnock and Monika Czinano each have 10 points for Iowa, which looks to make the Sweet 16 for a second straight NCAA Tournament. The Iowa women made the Elite Eight in 2019, the last time the event was held, after winning the Big Ten Tournament that year.

Iowa opened the NCAA Tournament with an 87-72 win over 12-seed Central Michigan. Caitlin Clark had 23 points on 8-of-16 from the field, tying for the game’s scoring lead.

The winner of today’s Iowa-Kentucky game will advance to face the winner of tonight’s 1 UConn vs. 8 Syracuse game. The Hawkeyes-Wildcats game is currently being broadcast on ESPNU.

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