WBB @ Iowa: Clark v Michigan
Opponent: #4 Iowa (23-3, 12-2 B1G, 2nd place B1G)
Result: Loss, 106-89
Record: 16-10, 7-7 B1G, 7th place
Date: 2/15, Away
Starters: Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Jordan Hobbs, Chyra Evans, Elissa Brett (10 starts together this season)
Injuries/inactives: Sollom, Brown, and Taylor Williams all dressed, but did not play
1st quarter:
- Caitlin Clark’s 8 points to break the record:
- Got the ball off the tip, drove against Phelia and elevated for a short bucket
- Used a screen to get around the top of the key for a catch and shoot three
- Logo three in transition (technically this wasn’t on the logo, but at that range)
- Also these were Iowa’s first 8 points of the game
- Iowa then took a timeout so they could announce the record
- Michigan started 3/3 with a floater from Phelia, turnaround jumper from Evans, and short fadeaway from Hobbs
- Clark scored on Iowa’s first two possessions, but then Iowa turned the ball over twice before she broke the record
- Phelia drew the defensive matchup with Clark, most of the time trying to just stay in front, with mixed results. She did almost get a steal on an attempted screen-dribble hand off for Clark, but Clark corralled it before it crossed half court
- Brett committed her second foul of the first quarter when she backed into Clark as she came down on another logo three and Clark converted the four point play. Hobbs answered with a three of her own
- Taylor Woodson had an impressive drive from the three point line, covered the whole time by her defender, but got a step on them and extended for the layup
- Clark stole the ball near the end of the quarter when Hansen mishandled a pass and Clark ran it out for the layup
- Cam Williams got her second foul when Clark found Stuelke in transition. Williams ran with Stuelke, but couldn’t keep from making contact. Stuelke didn’t make the basket and hit one of two free throws
- Michigan had a pretty good first quarter for this season, scoring 22 points and shooting 59% from the field, but Clark could not be stopped. She was 5-7 from three point range and 3 completed assists to Stuelke, having a hand in all of Iowa’s points except two free throws
2nd quarter:
- Down 11 to start the quarter, Michigan came out and went 8-10 with three buckets from Hobbs, two of them assisted by Taylor Woodson, two from Hansen, one from Evans, one from Phelia, and one from Crockett backing down Clark in the post. However, the only cut the lead to 5 before the media timeout because of more Clark heroics
- Jordan Hobbs had two blocks in one possession, both on Kate Martin, then found Crockett wide open in the post. Unfortunately Martin came streaking down the court for an emphatic block to charge up the crowd
- Phelia went down right before the media timeout when she ran into a Stuelke screen and went to the bench for a couple minutes before reentering the game
- With Iowa up 5, Clark found Marshall in transition for an open three, then Michigan threw away a pass to give the ball back. Clark hit a layup, then Michigan turned the ball over again on the inbounds when Evans didn’t get two feet out of bounds. Iowa drew a foul and hit both free throws and the lead was back at 12 in less than 45 seconds of game time
3rd quarter:
- Michigan forced a miss on Iowa’s first possession of the second half, but Stuelke got the offensive rebound and kicked it out for an open three
- Phelia had a nice assist with a pinpoint pass from outside the three point line to Evans in the post, who created space for herself and put the shot in
- Stuelke committed her third foul on a Phelia drive and went to the bench with 8 minutes left in the quarter. Phelia hit both free throws
- Phelia jumped a pass and raced down the court, pulling up at the free throw line to cut the lead to 10. Unfortunately Molly Davis got the luckiest bounce on a three when the ball went vertically up above the backboard, then came back down through the hoop
- Brett committed her fourth foul when she elbowed Clark in the head while bringing the ball around and went to the bench. Clark wanted the refs to upgrade it to an intentional foul, but didn’t get it
- Phelia drew an offensive foul on Clark by sticking with her and denying a couple passes until Clark made contact trying to go get the ball from a teammate
- Michigan had some offensive success in this quarter with Evans and Cam Williams on the floor together, but couldn’t stop Iowa from scoring and the lead was 21
4th quarter:
- With Iowa up 20, Clark went to the bench after a hard foul. Michigan hit a three and Clark came right back in
- Taylor Woodson had an impressive putback when she boxed out an Iowa player for the offensive rebound and went right back up. On the next possession, she drove, drew the foul, sank the shot, and hit the free throw
- Another Michigan miscue came on the defensive end when three defenders swarmed an Iowa player, successfully got the ball from her, but Cam Williams bounced the pass off Brett’s hands and out of bounds
- Cam Williams scored on a hook shot from the three point line that was low and flat, but somehow got into the basket
- Taylor Woodson switched onto Clark at some point with not much more success than Phelia, though it definitely showed Woodson’s energy and commitment to defense
- Lauren Hansen found Taylor Woodson wide open and cutting to the basket for a slick layup
- Stuck drew a charge on a driving Iowa player with a minute left in the game. The crowd cheered because the shot went down, but started booing the ref when they realized what the call was
- On the final possession, with the crowd chanting “Let’s Go Hawks”, Hansen drove and elevated from the free throw line for Michigan’s final points
Notable stats:
- In the first half, Clark scored 28 of Iowa’s 53 points on 10-16 shooting and 6-9 from three point range. She also had 8 assists, half of them to Hannah Stuelke
- Clark finished with a career high 49 points and 13 assists. She was 9-18 from deep and 8-8 from the free throw line
- Iowa shot 18-35 from three point range, just exceeding Clark’s 50% shooting
- Michigan was an anemic 3-19 in a game where they needed all the points they could get
- Hobbs led the team with 16 points on 6-11 shooting
- Six Michigan players scored in double digits including Evans, Woodson, Hansen, Phelia, and Cam Williams
Overall:
- Michigan produced a balanced offensive attack and scored their second-most points all season, but couldn’t match Iowa’s three point shooting or a career night from Caitlin Clark. If Michigan plays this well on Sunday, they can beat Michigan State, but the team’s inconsistency makes that less than certain.
Up next:
- 2/18: home vs Michigan State (17-7, 7-6 B1G, 5th place) at 12pm on Big Ten Network
- Last meeting was an 82-61 loss at Breslin. Since then they have beaten Rutgers and Minnesota, then lost a close game to Indiana, and lost by 15 to Ohio State
- Led by first-year coach Robyn Fralick who coached at Bowling Green last year and brought Jocelyn Tate with her
- Stars senior guard Moira Joiner who has increased her points per game from 10.1 last season to 14.9 this season, seeing increases across the board in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage
- Julia Ayrault is now leading Michigan State in points per game (15.1), rebounds per game (7.3), and blocks per game (2.2)
- 2/24: away at Northwestern (8-16, 3-10 B1G, 13th place) at 3pm on B1G+
- Three wins in the B1G this year are over Rutgers and two wins over Wisconsin, who is currently in 11th place in the B1G. No wins over ranked teams
- Junior guard Melannie Daley leads the team with 12.5 points per game, while junior forward Caileigh Walsh is second in points per game (12.3) and leads the team in rebounds per game (5.5).
- Head coach is Joe McKeown, who has been with the team since 2008, has a record just above .500, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere
Most recent bracketology:
- ESPN has Michigan as an 11 seed and one of the “last four in” (updated 2/13)
- 8 B1G teams in the field
- College Sports Madness has Michigan as an 11 seed (2/13)
- 8 B1G teams in field
- Her Hoop Stats has Michigan as one of the “first four out” (2/9)
- 8 B1G teams in field
February 16th, 2024 at 7:41 AM ^
Clark is a talent. She brought a lot of attention to WBB.
Great for the sport.
February 16th, 2024 at 8:29 AM ^
Does anyone think Clark plays on the Women's National team in Paris?
February 16th, 2024 at 8:33 AM ^
If she does, I hope it's treated more like when AD went to go play with those guys in 2008(?) She's not a top 5-10 player in the game -- at least she can't prove it until she reaches the WNBA. I think she also has a ceiling that can't touch some of the dominant two way players in the league (for my NBA fans, like who would you rather have on your team come playoff time, Harden or Kawhi? Both GREAT players, just ones a little more complete)
February 16th, 2024 at 8:35 AM ^
The loss to Iowa was tough. Caitlin Clark started the game on fire - and though Michigan clawed back to close the lead during the second quarter, Iowa finished the half strong.
I mentioned the following in the game thread. I believe Clark is a very good role model for athletics - especially, to attract younger girls. Caitlin's probably making more in NIL at Iowa than she would in the WNBA - and, I have absolutely no problem with that. And, there's little doubt that she's brought a lot of attention to women's college hoops.
It's unclear how many NIL agreements Clark has - and, the one that I've seen is usually on BTN and is associated as a spokesperson for State Farm. I have been critical of the NIL deals that are "out there" - however, it seems like Caitlin is earning her NIL with State Farm through being a spokesperson - just like Mahomes does. So, I have no issue with that NIL structure. The "no show" and we'll just pay you a lot to come here are the deals that really concern me.
Hoping the Maize & Blue can finish the season strong - and, find success in both the B1G Tourney and The Dance.
February 16th, 2024 at 12:10 PM ^
Yeah, "NIL" to most is just a money laundering scheme to pay players over the table. Not much has changed, because it's the same bags of money that were going under the table until the loophole emerged.
Her NIL is real NIL. She's not getting booster payments laundered to her, AFAIK. Her face can sell cereal boxes, if it's not already.
As for a role model though, as long as she stays out of trouble you can do worse, but I don't think I want any girls emulating her. Maybe her shot -- it's a marvel -- but attitude-wise she's a bit of a whiny, entitled jerk. I'm like, you're dominating the sport, gal; lighten up a little.
February 16th, 2024 at 8:40 AM ^
I saw Clark a couple of years ago when they came to Ann Arbor. We had a large lead and she almost brought Iowa back all by herself.
Too bad the game last night wasn't on TV. It sounds like it was the WBB equivalent of the Loyola Marymount game.
February 16th, 2024 at 8:59 AM ^
"Too bad the game last night wasn't on TV." The game was broadcast on Peacock - does that count as TV? Probably not... lol.
February 16th, 2024 at 9:06 AM ^
She is an absolute BEAST.
February 16th, 2024 at 10:05 AM ^
Clark had her way with us, as she does against everyone, and the outcome was not in doubt. Sure, they kept her in the game to break her own personal best--fancy stats--but they also needed to keep her in until quite late because--right up to the buzzer--we did not quit and kept hanging around. We played hard, the better team won, so be it. That kind of effort and spirit comes from the top down, credit to Coach KBA. If only our "other" bball team...
February 16th, 2024 at 11:00 AM ^
I think the ladies played exceptionally well last night. Even Clark herself said "we need to play better defense" heading into halftime. They ate Iowa up in the paint. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep Iowa from just blazing the nets. When a team is shooting over 50% from range on such high volume and some of those are 35-footers, you just have to shrug and say "oh well, not our night." Kate Martin went 4/5 from range. Molly Davis went 2/2 and had one that that bounced about four feet up off the rim and fell right through. That's when it was abundantly clear that it just wasn't going to be Michigan's night.
I am also so over the Caitlin Clark show. She's incredible -- and she should be celebrated -- but last night was so over-the-top on the broadcast. We missed multiple live plays in the game while watching Clark drink water on the sidelines. They came back from a review break to talk about Clark, taking quite a while to explain what the actual result of the review was.
And they let Clark get away with a lot last night. I was thrilled when they finally called her for an offensive foul. On a corner three a few possessions before that, she got open by putting two hands in Phelia's chest to push off and then use the screen. A couple plays later there was a loose ball that she and Chrya Evans were going for and she visibly pulled on Chyra's arm to pull her away from the loose ball; no call. And while I understand that they're not going to call it, you cannot bring the ball to a stop in your hand and take two hop steps with the same foot to get into a shot. That is not a gather step; that is not jump stop. That is a travel, but it never gets called (Laila does this, too, FWIW).
And then she whines so. much. She was complaining about the forearm she put in Taylor Woodson's chin like it didn't happen. She wanted a foul on a layup that was just straight-up good defense by (I think) Greta. And when Elise Stuck drew a good charge foul late in the game, all the broadcast could do is blather on (and, to be fair, I like Megan McKeown) about how "she's such a team player that she even gets upset when calls go against her teammates" as Clark jawed at the officials from the bench. It was just all very over-the-top, and I knew it would be.
As a dad of a daughter who loves basketball and has loved watching Caitlin Clark, I'm happy that she has done so well, and it's great to see arenas packed for women's basketball. That said, I'm more than ready for her to move on. May she have a great WNBA career, but I'm ready to no longer see her on the opposing sideline. Last night was even a turning point for my 11 year-old daughter who has loved watching her. She was pretty much over it all and was upset that she was getting away with so much.
In other officiating notes, there was also a clear charge taken early on in the game by Brett that went totally uncalled (although I don't think the offensive player was Clark in that case). And, of course, the absurd call that Chyra Evans had a foot in-bounds when inbounding the ball after a made basket. Did they show a replay? Of course not. If you roll it back and watch it yourself, it wasn't even close to being the correct call. I could not believe that call.
On the positive side, Jordan Hobbs had a great night. They had 6 ladies score in double figures. Chyra worked her tail off on the offensive glass. Taylor Woodson has really worked herself into some very meaningful and productive minutes, including quite a few where she was guarding Clark last night and doing so pretty effectively for a true freshman guarding the all-time scoring leader.
The final PPP ended up being surprisingly low: 0.97. I thought Michigan moved the ball well and got just about anything they wanted in the paint. At least for the first half, they were trading blows (2s for 3s, unfortunately) with Iowa and keeping it close. Given the way Iowa bombed away from three, the fact that this was a 4-point game at one point late in the second quarter was incredible and a testament to the girls' unwillingness to give up.
They had 14 turnovers (again, at least one of those was extremely incorrect) to Iowa's 12, and played them very evenly there. Elissa Brett had a rough game, as did Alyssa Crockett.
Truthfully, I feel like last night was pretty close to the ideal (realistic) result. That game drew a ton of viewers, and I'm sure the committee was watching as well. What they saw from Michigan was a team that played hard and for much of the game kept pace with a team shooting a ridiculous percentage from range despite doing almost all of their damage in the paint. As far as "quality losses" go, this one was encouraging to me.
I really hope they can pull out a win this weekend vs. MSU. If they do that and win the games against the bottom of the conference, I think they can end up in the field of 68.
February 16th, 2024 at 12:00 PM ^
Boy this is so refreshing to read. I noticed all these things myself and thought I was crazy. We missed real game action to see Caitlin Clark whine (incorrectly at that) while she was on the bench. Found myself replaying things twice (like the Chyra Evans inbound) and other things they just straight up missed on the broadcast. She is so fun to watch, but she's really soured it with the amount she complains. It's insane how much that can change the feelings of someone who is super skilled as a passer and shooter. You hit Laila in the face and your complaining because you wanted a foul the other way!? Puhleasseee.
I did enjoy the Taylor Woodson night, she feels like a really good "glue+" player. Maybe not the Laila, Flaherty, Naz (and hopefully Syla + Olivia Olson) but someone who can help you win a ton of games.
February 16th, 2024 at 12:03 PM ^
Eh, she's a superstar, and gets the superstar treatment, and that treatment leads to entitlement. It's something I hate about basketball in general, at all levels. The better you are, the more the refs go from calling your travels to letting you get away with murder, and that gets to their heads.
She won't be around forever, but it'll be the same thing the next time around.
February 17th, 2024 at 6:36 AM ^
clark is as great an offensive player as the women’s game has ever seen, just absolutely incredible.
she’s also a piece of shit. she’s bitched about every single solitary call for four years now, with zero exceptions. she’s a lousy teammate - watch her roll her eyes when anyone cheats her out of an assist, or gets beat on the defensive end. watch her ignore her coach. watch her play matador defense on half of her trips. watch her wave her arms to get more attention every other trip. watch her flail when she gets brushed against on a layup.
the good news is we won’t have to endure a national title for this giant group of entitled assholes, because my LORD they are brutal defensively, just an absolute layup drill every night (the hell is it about iowa hoops, by the way? none of these turds can guard anybody, men or women both). at a certain point, someone will light them up, clark will go 2 for 12, and it will be byeeee saint caitlin.
but, yeah, she’s great. logo threes, right?
February 16th, 2024 at 11:58 AM ^
Not expected, not shocked.
The media and fan scrutiny of approaching a record can be tremendous pressure. As well as Clark's played, she was likely in a slump (!) until tonight, at which point catharsis burst the dam. Boom, career night.
In most contexts I would say losing by 17 is embarrassing, but these days few teams would consider losing by less than 20 at Iowa to be embarrassing.
February 16th, 2024 at 4:57 PM ^
I pray she doesn’t use her Covid year, tired of her antics.
February 16th, 2024 at 9:52 PM ^
Remember when Clark was the second-best freshman in the nation?
Clark is amazing, but I'm a little wistful for Bueckers - two season-ending knee injuries is a bit much.
Hopefully, the team can build on their strong performance and shake off the loss to a superstar at the top of her game.