Caitlin Clark & Iowa too much for Virginia Tech in early-season showdown

The early-season showdown between No. 3 Iowa and No. 8 Virginia Tech lived up to the hype. Unfortunately for the Hokies, Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark proved to be too much as Iowa was able to ride their senior guard to an 80-76 victory at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

Clark put on an offensive show in the second half, scoring 26 of her 44 points in the final 20 minutes, while the Hokies offense went through their struggles and it proved to be too much to overcome.

Here are some observations from Caitlin Clark and Iowa’s victory

• Georgia Amoore led Virginia Tech with 31 points, including a half-court shot at the end of the first quarter to give the Hokies an 18-15 lead.
• Elizabeth Kitley scored the game’s first basket off an offensive rebound, but the Hokies went nearly five minutes without a point until she hit another turnaround along the baseline. Virginia Tech’s offense went through too many scoring droughts.
• Kitley finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds, but she only had five defensive boards. Iowa collected 15 offensive rebounds and a lot of those came when they were small and played five-out on offense which allowed the weak side to crash.
• Credit has to be given to Iowa’s defense, which started the game small and did a good job of taking Kitley out of the offense. They also collected several offensive rebounds that led to baskets.
• Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke had 12 points and four rebounds. She got off to a good start making her first three field goals in the opening quarter and allowing the Hawkeyes to build on an early lead without much from Caitlin Clark.
• Clark had her all-around game on display as she had eight rebounds and six assists while going 13-for-17 from the free-throw line.
• Freshman Carleigh Wenzel had 11 points off the bench for the Hokies and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field with a pair of treys. The Hokies only got five other points from the bench, which could be a concern as the season goes along.
• Virginia Tech was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line, while the Hawkeyes were 18-for-22 with Clark shooting 17 of those freebies.
• Virginia Tech avoided a major injury when Kitley was hit in the face by Cayla King inadvertently. Kitley left the game for a few minutes to clean up some blood but returned.

It was not the result the Hokies wanted, but in the end, Clark was just too much for Virginia Tech and that’s not the last time she’s going to do that to an opponent this season. It’s back to the drawing board for the Hokies and head coach Kenny Brooks.