IOWA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Iowa Hawkeyes Women's Basketball

Iowa women's basketball vs West Virginia recap: Caitlin Clark breaks season scoring record

Des Moines Register

Caitlin Clark and No. 1 seed Iowa women's basketball escaped with a win against No. 8 seed West Virginia in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes will play No. 5 seed Colorado in the Sweet 16.

Check below to to re-live the game's updates, highlights and analysis:

GAME STORY:Iowa women's basketball survives grueling affair with West Virginia, on to the Sweet 16

FINAL: Iowa 64, West Virginia 54

It wasn't pretty, but Iowa found a way to move on and win the final game of Clark's career in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Q4/0:21 Iowa 62, West Virginia 54 - Clark breaks single-season scoring record

With a pair of clutch free throws, Clark broke Kelsey Plum's NCAA women's basketball single-season scoring record.

Clark has 30 points tonight and a new record to add to her length resume.

More:Caitlin Clark breaks Kelsey Plum's single-season scoring record in March Madness game vs WVU

Q4/0:23.5 Iowa 60, West Virginia 54 - Iowa in control

West Virginia just scored but Iowa will have the chance to inbound and get two more free throw attempts.

The Hawkeyes are in a good position to win.

Q4/0:34 Iowa 58, West Virginia 52 - Clark ties single-season scoring record

With a pair of free throws to get her to 28 points on the day, Clark tied Kelsey Plum for the most points in a single NCAA women's basketball season (1,109).

Another milestone in a historic season and career for the Des Moines native.

Q4/1:18 Iowa 55, West Virginia 52 - Affolter, Marshall in the clutch!

Like she did to clinch the Big Ten Tournament championship, Gabbie Marshall came up with a clutch block against the opponent jump shot.

Sydney Affolter then, to the surprise of West Virginia's defense, patiently took the ball coast-to-coast for an and-1 score, breaking the tie.

Big-time plays by the supporting cast.

Q4/3:44 Iowa 50, West Virginia 48 - Coming down to the wire

Iowa finally scored in the fourth quarter, but this game is anything but secure.

The Hawkeyes continue to take extremely contested and low-percentage shots, largely the result of West Virginia's stellar defense. But they are in the bonus, so getting to the free-throw line might be their best bet to score moving forward.

Q4/5:18 Iowa 48, West Virginia 48 - WVU not going away

As if the Mountaineers weren't being physical already, they've ramped up their defensive intensity to start the fourth quarter, which has resulted in the Hawkeyes still without any points this frame. WVU is on a 10-0 run.

Clark, in particular, is struggling to get any clean looks or drives to the basket, and West Virginia has been willing to risk picking up multiple fouls.

End 3: Iowa 48, West Virginia 38 - Clark taking over

Clark got it going that quarter with 13 points and is once again playing with even more fire and emotion than usual. She's up to 24 points.

Kate Martin also got going toward the end of the frame with five points over the final couple of minutes.

Iowa's defense has been the unsung reason that its winning right now. The Hawkeyes have held West Virginia to just 33.3% shooting with just seven 2-point field goals.

Q3/4:31 Iowa 38, West Virginia 29 - Kate Martin struggling

While Clark (19 points, five 3s), Hannah Stuelke (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Sydney Affolter (8 points) are carrying the offense, one of Iowa's typical go-to players - Kate Martin - has struggled all evening. Even Gabbie Marshall, who's 0-for-2 from the field, has been active on defense.

Martin just passed up a potential momentum-boosting triple attempt to drive to the basket, but her hesitation led to a travel.

If she can find her rhythm, the Hawkeyes could pull away.

Q3/6:38 Iowa 33, West Virginia 26 - Hawkeyes heating up

Iowa came out of the locker room looking a bit tight, but Clark got the crowd and her teammates engaged with a fading triple from the left wing, her fourth of the game. She's up to 16 points.

Sydney Affolter then scored on a tip-in, sending the crowd into a frenzy and forcing a West Virginia timeout.

The Hawkeyes need to hang on to this momentum after a tense first half.

Halftime: Iowa 26, West Virginia 24 - Hawkeyes ice cold from 3

West Virginia's top scorer, JJ Quinerly, appeared to hurt her knee midway through the frame, and the broadcast said she was being evaluated by the medical staff on the sideline.

Still, Iowa couldn't take advantage of her absence because of its ice-cold 3-point shooting (3-for-12) and sloppy passing (9 turnovers), which led to just six second-quarter points for the Hawkeyes.

That total is the team's lowest in a quarter all season.

Iowa must get its fast break game going and be crisper when moving the ball. The players were visibly affected by West Virginia's aggressive ball pressure, and the offense overall was not in-sync.

Q2/4:26 Iowa 26, West Virginia 19 - Hawkeyes defense stepping up

Iowa has clamped down on the defensive end in the second quarter, having allowed just four points in 5.5 minutes.

Gabbie Marshall just put forth a terrific effort to deflect a pass that led to a Clark layup.

The Hawkeyes' offense, however, is still not taking care of the ball.

Q2/6:05 Iowa 24, West Virginia 19 - Sloppy play both sides

There have been 10 combined turnovers through the first 14 minutes of this game, six committed by Iowa.

Hannah Stuelke leads that category with three, an uncharacteristic development for the post player.

If the Hawkeyes can take better care of the ball, their elite offense, which is consistently scoring in the half court, should balloon the lead.

End 1: Iowa 20, West Virginia 15 - Caitlin Clark came to play

Coming off a relatively poor shooting game last time out, Clark has got it going early with three triples on five attempts.

She and Stuelke sparked a solid second half of the quarter for the Hawkeyes, in which four of the five starters scored and the defense ramped up in the final minutes.

As always, Carver-Hawkeye Arena is rocking.

Q1/3:49 Iowa 13, West Virginia 13 - Competitive start

The Hawkeyes got down 5-0 quickly as West Virginia's signature full-court press defense forced two turnovers, but Iowa quickly adapted and went on a 5-0 run.

Good news for Hawkeyes fans is that Hannah Stuelke, who sat the entire second half of last game, got involved early by converting an and-1 and a fast break layup.

Still, the Mountaineers have been aggressive early and already hit a trio of 3-pointers.

Caitlin Clark can break another scoring record

Clark is close to breaking another one of Kelsey Plum's scoring records.

If the Hawkeyes great notches at least 29 points tonight, she'll set a new single-season scoring record for NCAA women's basketball (1,109).

Plum set this historic mark in the 2016-17 season while play at Washington.

Is Molly Davis playing today for Iowa women's basketball?

Starting guard Molly Davis has been sidelined with a knee injury since the Hawkeyes' final regular-season game, and although the team was initially hoping for her to return by the start of the NCAA Tournament, she has still not yet been cleared to play.

Still, Davis was optimistic about her recovery on Friday.

“Everything's improving little by little, and I’m excited,” Davis said in her first interview since a very public, very painful twist of her knee and fate on senior day, against Ohio State on March 3. “This week’s been really good.”

FULL STORY:Leistikow: A 'really good' week for Molly Davis as Iowa women prepare for Holy Cross

How to watch Iowa vs. West Virginia women's basketball in NCAA Tournament today?

More:How to watch Iowa women's basketball vs West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament today

Iowa vs. West Virginia women's basketball game preview

Who are West Virginia women's basketball's best players?

Scoring leader: JJ Quinerly (19.9 PPG)
Assists leader: Jordan Harrison (5.1 APG)
Rebounding leader: Kyah Watson (6.3 RPG)

Gus Martin is a Digital Producer/Content Director for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on X at @GusMartin_DMR.

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