Hannah Stuelke has tallied more points in a game in Cleveland.
At one point, more than twice as many points.
She has never played bigger than she did on Friday night, though, especially in light of the situation.
In an NCAA women’s basketball national semifinal at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, second-ranked Iowa defeated No. 10 Connecticut 71-69 behind Stuelke’s 23 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter.
After the Hawkeyes (34-4) made it to the title game for the second consecutive year, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark stated, “She played with an energy about herself (in which) she really could go in there and dominate.”
“I’m a sophomore, so I’m 2-for-2,” Stuelke quipped, both shyly and slyly.
The Cedar Rapids native made 9 of 12 shots from the field, 5 of 7 from the free-throw line.
“She was amazing tonight,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.
If you’re going to get boasting about Stuelke, you have to get it from her teammates. You’re not going to pry it from her.
“Confidence is everything,” she said. “Hearing Caitlin talk about me like that, it gives me a confidence boost.
“But they just fed me the ball very well. And the ball was going in for me tonight.”
Stuelke held her own against UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards, and then some.
“She goes toe-to-toe with (Edwards), who in my mind is one of the best players in the country,“ Clark said. ”She was physical with her. Guarded her well. Boxed her out. And she wasn’t afraid to take it at her either.
“She was definitely a difference-maker.”
Iowa dug its way out of a 12-point second-quarter hole. Despite 12 first-half turnovers, they were within 32-26 at halftime.
“We went into the locker room at halftime and it wasn’t, like, ‘Oh, come on, you’ve got to make shots,’” Clark said. “It was, ‘No, stop turning the ball over and we’re going to be perfectly fine.
“We knew at some point our shots would go down. We didn’t execute great (in the first half), and we were only down six. We felt really confident in that. Nobody panicked.”
The pivotal moment in the comeback was Stuelke’s 11 points in the third quarter. Clark’s four-point play followed suit, bringing the UConn lead down to 44-43.
Iowa led the whole fourth quarter after the third quarter ended with a 51-51 score.
On February 8, Stuelke erupted for 47 points against Penn State. This was on par with that, if not better, given the situation and the opponent.
It was nearly midnight when the Hawkeyes finally left Rocket Mortgage. There would be little time for celebration or rest before South Carolina No. 1 preparation got underway.
“We got here once last year, and we wanted to get back,” Kate Martin said. “It’s like an addiction.”
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