Iowa Women’s Basketball rolls past Team Slammers in European opener
The Iowa Women’s Basketball team kicked off their overseas tour earlier today with a game against Team Slammers in Naples, Italy. The Slammers are set to face five Division I programs this month and lost to Boston College 82-63 on August 3rd. Today, the Hawkeyes made quick work of the Slammers, as they built a 63-23 halftime lead behind 17 first half points from Caitlin Clark. The second half was much of the same and Iowa came away with a 116-46 win in the opener of their European Tour.
“I thought we shot the ball really well and you never know the first time you’re out here” said head coach Lisa Bluder. “We got some good looks in transition…Everybody played well, and it was nice to see everyone get out there and compete. Tonight, was a lot of fun for our new group.”
As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 46/78 (58.9%) from the floor, including 16/38 (42.1%) from three-point range. Here is a look at the final stat sheet. Seven Hawkeyes scored in double figures and five players pulled down five or more rebounds.
Three things that standout on the stat sheet
1- Addison O’Grady did not miss- No, the competition was not the greatest, but she was able to convert every look that she had. O’Grady finished with 16 points on 8/8 shooting and also had three rebounds. Lisa Bluder mentioned that there was no true seperation between the three center options so far this summer, but today is, at the very least, a good look for O’Grady.
2- Sydney Affolter was the standout performer- A player to keep an eye on as a breakout contributor this season, Affolter pulled down ten second half rebounds. She finished the game with a double-double 15 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Sydney was also 2/4 from behind the arc, which is a positive sign after she was just 5/24 (20.8%) last season.
3- Hannah Stuelke took some three-pointers- Jan Jensen mentioned that Stuelke has been working on shooting from the perimeter this summer. “I’d say the outside presence with the consistent shooting so far looks really good,” said Jensen. Today, Stuelke was 2/4 from behind the arc and also grabbed eight rebounds, including four on the offensive end of the floor.
Up next, the Hawkeyes travel to Split, Croatia to face Croatian club KK Tresnjevka 2009 on August 11th. They finish up the trip in Dubrovnik on August 13th against the Croatian All-Stars.
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