‘Oh, my goodness, I did that:’ Hannah Stuelke’s Carver-record 47 lifts Iowa past Penn State, 111-93

IOWA CITY — As nearly 15,000 folks chanted her name, Hannah Stuelke kept a straight face.

It wasn’t easy.

“I was trying so hard not to smile out there,” she said.

Stuelke scored a career-high 47 points — the most ever by a player, male or female, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and one short of the Iowa women’s basketball record — to lead the second-ranked Hawkeyes past Penn State, 111-93, in a Big Ten game Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“HAN-nah STUEL-ke!” (Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap). “HAN-nah STUEL-ke!!” (Clap-clap, clap-clap-clap).

The sophomore from Cedar Rapids made 17 of 20 shots from the floor, 13 of 21 from the free-throw line. She had 32 points in the second half alone.

When Stuelke exited with 9 seconds left and approached the Iowa bench, Caitlin Clark had a word with her:

“She said, ‘I expect you to do this every game,’” Stuelke said.

For one night, the focus shifted away from Clark’s assault on the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record.

Clark added 27 points Thursday, sending her career total to 3,489. She is 38 points away from Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527.

The Hawkeyes (22-2 overall, 11-1 Big Ten) travel to Nebraska for a noon tip Sunday. If Clark doesn’t set the record then, it will be back at Carver on Feb. 15 against Michigan.

But this was, unquestionably, Stuelke’s night. She obliterated her previous career-high of 22 points.

“Maybe tomorrow, I’ll be ‘Oh, my goodness, I did that,’” she said.

Stuelke scored 44 points in a high school game as a senior at Cedar Rapids Washington, against archrival Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

The Carver record had been 46 points. The Iowa women’s record remains 48, set by Megan Gustafson in the 2018 Big Ten tournament.

Thursday’s game was a grind. Fifty-one fouls were called. Seventy-one free throws were shot (Iowa was 32 of 43; Penn State was 22 of 28).

And it lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours.

The Lady Lions (16-7, 7-5) led 25-23 after a quarter, but Iowa put together a pair of 9-0 second-quarter surges and led 55-44 at halftime.

Iowa’s largest lead was 74-51 on Clark’s bucket with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

“We had so many good performances, and you’ve got to start with Hannah,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

Clark added 15 assists, but committed 12 turnovers. Kate Martin was good for 16 points and 16 rebounds. Sydney Affolter had nine points and 10 boards.

Molly Davis was battling illness and played only three minutes.

This was, however, The Stuelke Game.

Ashley Owusu led Penn State with 18 points.

Iowa 111, Penn State 93

At Iowa City

PENN STATE (93): Ali Brigham 3-6 0-0 8, Ashley Owusu 4-15 10-14 18, Shay Ciezki 2-6 0-0 6, Leilani Kapinus 4-12 3-5 12, Makenna Marisa 3-12 4-4 12, Chanaya Pinto 4-8 0-0 9, Jayla Oden 1-4 0-0 2, Moriah Murray 2-6 3-3 9, Alli Campbell 4-7 0-0 10, Grace Hall 2-5 2-2 7, Kylie Lavelle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-81 22-28 93.

IOWA (111): Hannah Stuelke 17-20 13-21 47, Molly Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Martin 4-6 7-8 16, Caitlin Clark 8-23 7-7 27, Gabbie Marshall 2-5 0-0 5, Sydney Affolter 2-4 4-4 9, Kylie Feuerbach 0-3 0-0 0, Addison O’Grady 2-4 0-1 4, A.J. Ediger 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor McCabe 0-1 1-2 1, Sharon Goodman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-68 32-43 111.

Penn State 25 19 19 30 — 93

Iowa 23 32 24 32 — 111

3-point goals: Penn State 13-40 (Brigham 2-2, Owusu 0-5, Ciezki 2-5, Kapinus 1-4, Marisa 2-7, Pinto 1-2, Oden 0-3, Murray 2-5, Campbell 2-4, Hall 1-3), Iowa 7-24 (Martin 1-1, Clark 4-14, Marshall 1-4, Affolter 1-2, Feuerbach 0-2, McCabe 0-1). Team fouls: Penn State 31, Iowa 20. Fouled out: Kapinus, Affolter. Rebounds: Penn State 43 (Kapinus 10), Iowa 49 (Martin 16). Steals: Penn State 9 (Owusu, Oden 3), Iowa 6 (Affolter 3). Turnovers: Penn State 16, Iowa 17.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com