Indiana frustrates Clark en route to win over No. 4 Iowa
BLOOMINGTON, IND. » Sara Scalia scored 25 points, All-America center Mackenzie Holmes had 24 points and nine rebounds, and No. 14 Indiana frustrated Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in an 86-69 win over the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes on Thursday night.
Playing for the first time since she broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, Clark finished with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds but struggled from the field. She was 8 of 26 overall and 3 of 16 on 3-pointers while scoring just four points in the second half.
Clark now has 3,593 points and is 57 away from her next milestone, Lynette Woodard’s major women’s college scoring record, with three games left in the regular season.
Indiana, the defending regular-season Big Ten champion, had something to prove after Monday night’s inexplicable loss at Illinois, and the Hoosiers (22-4, 13-3) didn’t disappoint. Yarden Garzon made three 3s and finished with 15 points.
And the Hoosiers were more than ready for Clark, just like last year.
Three hours before tip-off, long lines were snaking around Assembly Hall for what had already been announced as a sellout. Inside the arena, Indiana T-shirts were the dominant fashion choice with a few blackand-gold No. 22 jerseys sprinkled around. And after Clark put up a rare shot that missed everything in the first half, the crowd responded with chants of “Airball!”
Clark’s three 3s gave her 143, breaking the single-season Big Ten record she set last season (140), but she couldn’t outduel the nation’s best shooting team.
Credit for that goes to Indiana’s defense.
Indiana closed the first half on a 12-6 run for a 44-33 halftime lead, then shut out Iowa for nearly the first four minutes of the second half as it extended the margin to 51-33. Iowa finally responded with a 9-2 spurt and cut the deficit to 62-54 after three.
But Garzon opened the fourth quarter with two baskets and an assist to give the Hoosiers a a 69-56 lead, and the Hawkeyes never recovered.
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 72, ALABAMA 44 » Ashlyn Watkins had 14 points and 10 rebounds and South Carolina claimed a share of its third straight Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a win over Alabama (20-8, 7-6), coach Dawn Staley’s 600th career win.
The Gamecocks (26-0, 13-0 SEC) cruised without top scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso, who felt sore following a win over Georgia this past Sunday and got the game off.
( )2 OHIO STATE 82, PENN STATE 69 » Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points, Cotie McMahon and Celeste Taylor added 16 apiece as Ohio State won its 14th straight game.
The Buckeyes (23-3, 14-1 Big Ten) never trailed and led by as many as 30 points midway through the fourth quarter.
Ashley Owusu scored 22 points and Ali Brigham and Leilani Kapinus added 10 apiece for the Lady Lions (16-11, 7-9), who lost their sixth in a row.
DUEK 58, (17) SYRACUSE 45 » Kennedy Brown scored 12 points, Reigan Richardson added 11, and Duke (17-9, 9-6 ACC) halted Syracuse’s (22-5, 12-4) fivegame win streak.
(19) NOTRE DAME 74, CLEMSON 47 »
Sonia Citron scored 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, Maddy
Westbeld had a double-double and Notre Dame dominated the middle quarters in a win over Clemson.
The Irish trailed by two points after one quarter, but led 59-36 entering the fourth. Westbeld had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Notre Dame (20-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Ruby Whitehorn had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Clemson (11-16, 4-11), which lost its fourth straight.
(20) LOUISVILLE 80, GEORGIA TECH 62 » Sydney Taylor scored 23 of her season-high 31 points in the first half, Jayda Curry added 13 points and Louisville (22-6, 11-4 ACC) won its 11th straight in the series
Men
(3) PURDUE 96, RUTGERS 68 »
Zach Edey scored 25 points on near-perfect shooting, Camden Heide added a career-high 18 and Purdue routed Rutgers.
Edey was 7 of 8 from the field and made 11 free throws without a miss. He also had seven rebounds. Heide was 7 for 7 from the field, making four 3-pointers, after entering the game averaging 3.0 points.
Lance Jones added 17 points for the Boilermakers (24-3, 13-3 Big Ten). Jones was 7 of 14 from the field after going 1 of 10 in a 68-60 victory at Rutgers on Jan. 28.. Braden Smith had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Jeremiah Williams scored 12 points for Rutgers (14-12, 6-9). Noah Fernandes had 11.
Purdue’s biggest lead was 37 at 87-50