The No. 1 seed Iowa Hawkeyes within the girls’s basketball NCAA Event are heading again to the Candy 16, nevertheless it was no simple process towards the No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Hawkeyes defeated the Mountaineers, 64-54, however they wanted to scratch and claw their option to victory in stunning trend.
It was a sluggish begin for Iowa after they went down 11-5 early within the first quarter, however they managed to depart it with a 20-15 lead.
Nonetheless, a really low-scoring second quarter by each groups ended up with a halftime rating of 26-24 in favor of Iowa.
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Many noticed this recreation as a blowout candidate when trying on the schedule, however the second half would show the Mountaineers had been a relentless opponent, even when the Hawkeyes walked away victorious.
It appeared Iowa was carried out enjoying video games, because the third quarter ended with them proudly owning a 48-38 lead. However this recreation was tied with simply 5:18 left to play within the fourth quarter after Jayla Hemingway knocked down a three-pointer to place an exclamation level on a 10-0 run.
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The Hawkeyes lastly bought on the board within the fourth when Sydney Affolter hit each her free throws to retake the lead. However the scoreboard would trip, as West Virginia battled to tie issues up once more earlier than Iowa stored attempting to drag away.
It lastly occurred for the Hawkeyes as Affolter made an and-one free throw to go up three factors, and West Virginia began to go chilly from the sphere. Hemingway and JJ Quinerly couldn’t knock down three-pointers in hopes of taking a late lead.
Consequently, the Mountaineers had been pressured to foul to maintain their possibilities alive, however they had been sending Caitlin Clark, the NCAA all-time factors chief, to the free throw line. Clark knocked down her free throw makes an attempt within the remaining minute and completed with a game-high 32 factors. Hannah Stuelke additionally secured her remaining free throws to gather the win and breathe a sigh of reduction.
Clark had a sub-par taking pictures day in comparison with her traditional performances, taking pictures 8-of-22 (36.4%) from the sphere and 5-of-14 from three, although she made all however one in every of her 12 free throws. Clark added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals as nicely.
Affolter was 4-of-6 from the sphere with an ideal 5-of-5 from the charity stripe for 13 factors with seven rebounds, whereas Stuelke had a double-double with 11 rebounds and 12 factors for the Hawkeyes.
For the Mountaineers, Quinerly was the main scorer with 15 factors, although she shot 6-of-14 from the sphere. Hemingway had 10 factors off the bench for West Virginia, and Kyah Watson had 13 factors and 7 rebounds as nicely.
Regardless of having one of the vital deadly offensive gamers to ever step on the hardwood, top-seeded groups usually are not resistant to being upset when March Insanity is on the schedule. However not on Monday evening as Iowa strikes on to the Candy 16, the place they may face No. 5 Colorado later this week.
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