A 'Fun' Day For Hawkeyes In Home Win
It could have been a day to just coast.
Instead, it turned into a record-setting day for Iowa’s women’s basketball team.
The Hawkeyes set a school record in field-goal percentage in Saturday’s 102-50 win over North Carolina Central at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa (8-2) shot 69.8 percent from the field (37-of-53), breaking the mark of 68.9 percent set on Nov. 13, 2018 against Western Kentucky.
With the Hawkeyes coming off a win at Iowa State on Wednesday, and in-state rival Drake coming to Carver-Hawkeye next Saturday, this could have been a game to just endure and move on.
“I thought it would be harder, actually (for the Hawkeyes to be up for the game),” coach Lisa Bluder said. “I think they were excited to be back in Carver. We love playing in Carver, we love playing in front of our fans.
“I loved the intensity we kept during that game. It’s not always easy to do. I’m really, really happy with that.”
“I don’t think it was really hard, at all,” guard Kathleen Doyle said. “I don’t know, something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon.”
Something fun, indeed.
Iowa shot 80 percent in the first half (20-of-25), also a school record for a half. The Hawkeyes had 32 assists on the 37 field goals.
“When we’re sharing the ball like that and knocking down shots, it’s so much fun,” said senior guard Makenzie Meyer, who led Iowa with 19 points.
“I thought we passed the ball extremely well today, and that led to us shooting the ball extremely well today,” Bluder said.
Iowa led 55-18 at halftime, then scored 47 second-half points. North Carolina Central (1-9) shot just 15.8 percent in the second quarter, 20.6 percent in the first half.
“We kept the hammer down,” Bluder said. “We didn’t let up, we didn’t scoreboard watch. We kept going, no matter what.”
All 13 Hawkeyes played in the game, with 10 playing 10 or more minutes.
“You want to give your bench confidence, and I think they gained a little bit of that today,” Bluder said.
Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures. Monika Czinano had 14 points. Doyle had 13 points and nine assists. Gabbie Marshall had 11.
Doyle moved into second place on Iowa’s career assist list with 579, passing Cara Consuegra (576).
One of the better moments of the game came in the third quarter, when freshman Megan Meyer, Makenzie’s sister, assisted on a Makenzie 3-pointer from the right side.
“We haven’t gotten that opportunity since high school,” Makenzie said. “It was really cool. We both got really big smiles on our faces. We’ll remember that one for a while.”
She laughed when asked if her sister gave her a perfect pass.
“(The shot) was a little contested,” Makenzie said. “But I was like, ‘I have to shoot this. She gave me the pass.’”
Something fun on a Saturday afternoon.
