Iowa Women’s Basketball: B1G Tourney and All-Conference

Clark and Czinano earn All-B1G

Positive news continues to come in on the Iowa women’s basketball front. It was announced that both Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano were named first team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media. Caitlin Clark was a unanimous choice in both (to the surprise of no one).

This is the second consecutive year that Clark and Czinano were named to the first team.

On the season Clark is leading the nation in points per game (27.6) and assists per game (8.1). She is also averaging 8.2 rebounds and she is shooting 88.3% from the free throw line. There is nothing she can’t do. Oh, and by the way. Caitlin Clark was also named B1G Player of the Year. So there’s that.

Iowa’s post presence, Monika Czinano, is averaging 20.3 points and 6.1 rebounds. She is shooting 66.9% from the field which is good for third in the country in field goal percentage. She also is shooting 85% from the free throw line. Czinano has announced that she will return next season for her extra year of eligibility.

Warnock Named to Second Team All-B1G

Iowa lost a few games during a stretch when McKenna Warnock was out with a hand injury. Her return to the lineup coincided with Iowa’s terrific end of the regular season. On the year Warnock averaged 11.7 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, and she shot a blazing 43% from deep. Warnock does a little bit of everything, and her rebounding is very underrated.

Big Ten Tournament Bracket Released

The regular season Big Ten champion Hawkeye women’s team (20-7; 14-4) earned the two seed in this week’s Big Ten Conference tournament. Co-champion Ohio State earned the one seed. Iowa receives the double-bye in the tournament. The Hawks first play Friday, March 4th against the winner of Minnesota (10 seed) and Northwestern (7 seed). Ideally the Gophers will knock off the Wildcats. The Hawks split with Northwestern this season, losing at home 69-77 and winning on the road in overtime 72-67. The Hawks smoked the Gophers 105-49 earlier in the year and recently beat Minnesota 88-78. If the Hawkeyes win this game, they more than likely would face the Michigan Wolverines for the third time this season. The Hawks split with Michigan this year.

It will be a challenge for the Hawks to re-focus for the tournament. This past weekend was one of celebration. Mentally the Hawks need to get dialed in to the task at hand. There have been many, many instances where a team falls flat after a momentous win. The nice thing is that this is not Lisa Bluder’s first rodeo. Also, Iowa has a veteran team. On top of that Caitlin Clark thrives on new challenges and doubters. The ultimate goal is a national championship. The path to this is never easy, but winning a conference tournament will obviously result in a higher seed, thus an “easier” path to confetti and “One Shining Moment”. As always, Go Hawks!