Bruins Battle Fourth-Ranked Iowa in 73-62 Road Setback

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the second consecutive Sunday the Belmont University women's basketball team took on one of the nation's top programs and battled until the final buzzer. In their first-ever trip to the Hawkeye State, the Bruins (1-3) made fourth-ranked Iowa uncomfortable at home, but the host Hawkeyes (4-1) pulled away late for a 73-62 win. 

Iowa All-American guard Caitlin Clark scored 33 points, including 24 in the second half, and the Hawkeyes outscored Belmont 13-6 in the final five minutes. A pair of free throws from junior forward Madison Bartley got the Bruins within four at 60-56, but Belmont couldn't slow down Iowa's high-powered offense down the stretch.
 
The two teams were tied at 18 following the first quarter of action with senior guard Nikki Baird scoring eight of the Bruins' first 12 points of the contest. Belmont took an 8-3 lead three minutes in on back-to-back threes and led 12-7 on a Baird layup.
 
After neither squad scored for the first 90 seconds of the game, the Bruins held a 14-9 lead with just under three minutes to go in the opening quarter following a drained jumper by sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff. However, the Hawkeyes closed the first quarter on a 9-4 run and Belmont would not lead by more than three for the remainder of the afternoon.

The Bruins shot 50 percent (8-of-16) in the first quarter before being limited to 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) shooting in the second 10 minutes of play.
 
Graduate guard Sydni Harvey knocked down Belmont's lone triple of the second quarter to put the Bruins up 21-18, and a layup by sophomore guard Destinee Wells stopped a 7-2 Iowa run and evened the score at 25. From there, the home team scored seven-straight points to build a 32-25 advantage at the half.

Outscoring Belmont 14-7 in the second quarter, the Hawkeyes were 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc in the first half but went 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) at the free-throw line. The Bruins were held to 31.4 percent (11-of-35) first-half shooting and connected on just three of their 19 three-point attempts (15.8 percent).
 
Belmont's first foul shots of the afternoon didn't come until three minutes into the third quarter.

Free throws from sophomore forward Tessa Miller made it a four-point game at 35-31 three minutes into the second half, but Iowa went on a speedy 10-2 run. Three-pointers by the Hawkeyes' Kate Martin and Molly Davis, combined with a Davis layup and a Clark jumper, quickly gave Iowa its largest lead of the quarter at 45-33.

A Harvey trey and a Wells basket capped an 11-2 Bruins run and got Belmont within a possession at 47-44 with a little over two minutes to go in the third quarter.

With an announced crowd of over 8,000 on hand, the Hawkeye faithful needed just a spark to make things near deafening for the Bruins. Clark hit a three and then another just seconds later, igniting the Iowa crowd. Following a turnover on Belmont's next possession, Clark laid up a fastbreak steal to give the hosts a commanding 55-44 lead with the crowd fully involved.
 
Bartley got a layup to go on the Bruins' last possession of the quarter, but the Hawkeyes took a nine-point 55-46 lead into the final quarter. Both teams shot well in the third and combined for 44 points with Belmont going 7-for-14 from the field and Iowa 9-for-17 (52.9 percent). The Hawkeyes went 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from distance in the quarter as the Bruins went 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
A three-pointer by junior guard Tuti Jones finished a 10-3 Belmont run that stretched back to the end of the third quarter and got the Bruins back within four at 58-54 with 7:44 left. Bartley's made foul shots with 5:15 to go kept Belmont within four at 60-56, but the Bruins couldn't capitalize on a defensive stop.

A three by Iowa's Gabbie Marshall put the Hawkeyes up seven with a little over four minutes remaining and Belmont was only able to trim down the lead to six the rest of the game. Iowa held its largest lead at 13 (72-59) with 39 seconds on the clock following Clark free throws. McGuff hit a three with 31 seconds left, but it was too little too late.

The Hawkeyes went 6-for-8 at the foul line in the final quarter and shot 50 percent (14-of-28) in the second half, including going 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from deep.
 
The Bruins shot 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the second half and were 5-for-10 from distance and 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) at the free-throw line.

The game saw only 12 combined turnovers, six committed by each team. Four of Belmont's offensive miscues came in the second half and the Bruins were outrebounded 42-34. Iowa owned a 13-4 advantage on fastbreak points and outscored Belmont 22-18 in the paint.
 
Baird finished with a team-high 13 points while both Harvey and Bartley scored 11. Wells distributed a game-high tying five assists, collected a team-high tying six rebounds and accounted for nine points. Jones also earned six boards and scored nine.

Clark led all scorers and dished out five assists as Hawkeye center Monika Czinano nearly had a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

?? | HC @BartABrooks following the Bruins' battle at No. 4/6 Iowa Sunday afternoon ????#ItsBruinTime | #Splashville pic.twitter.com/Xr17ATBLBB

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) November 20, 2022

Of Note
Iowa represented the third-straight opponent for the Bruins who won at least 20 games last year and earned a win in a national postseason tournament. Two of Belmont's first four opponents this season have been ranked in the top 10 of both national polls. Sunday marked the first time in Wells' impressive career she has not reached double figures in consecutive games.
 
Up Next
The Bruins travel to the southwest coast of Florida next week for the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase, held Friday-Sunday at Hertz Arena in Estero. Belmont will take on 24th-ranked Villanova Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET and play the winner or loser of 17th-ranked Baylor and Saint Louis Saturday. The three-day tournament over Thanksgiving weekend is one of the premier in-season college basketball events and also features 23rd-ranked Michigan and receiving-votes South Florida.

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