ESPN shares what Iowa women’s basketball needs in the New Year

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The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-1, 1-0 Big Ten) are already one of the nation’s best teams with the country’s best player in senior superstar Caitlin Clark.

Clark just so happens to be authoring perhaps her finest season in Iowa City, averaging career bests in points per game (30.5) and field goal percentage (48.7%). Her turnovers per game are the lowest in her career and she’s still shooting a very good 39.2% from 3-point distance while hoisting on average 11.8 treys per contest.

But, as ESPN’s Michael Voepel points out, it can’t just be Clark for Iowa. In Voepel’s look at what every team needs in the New Year, there were thoughts on the Hawkeyes as well.

Caitlin Clark got her 13th career triple-double Thursday against Loyola Chicago, and she leads Division I in scoring at 30.5 PPG. Clark will keep doing her thing, but the Hawkeyes need to keep improving their interior scoring.

Sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke has shown good things since returning from an injury that kept her out three games. She and junior center Sharon Goodman are averaging a combined 22.4 points and 12.2 rebounds. – Voepel, ESPN.

Stuelke has been limited by the injury bug, but her growth as a sophomore has been evident in the 10 games she’s played. Her minutes per game average is up from 12.9 minutes per game as a freshman to 19.2 as a sophomore.

As a result, her numbers across the board have ballooned as well. Stuelke’s points per game average has jumped from 6.5 to 13.9 and her rebounds per game have jumped from 3.9 to 7.0 per contest.

The 6-foot-2 forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has still been incredibly efficient, shooting 63.3% from the floor. Perhaps most importantly, Stuelke has improved her free throw shooting from just 46.0% as a freshman to 68.8% thus far this season. That’s a number that needs to continue to improve.

Meanwhile, Goodman is also enjoying her best season with the Hawkeyes. While averaging a career high 16.2 minutes per night, Goodman has delivered to the tune of 8.5…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-shares-iowa-women-basketball-124559982.html

Author : Hawkeyes Wire

Publish date : 2023-12-27 12:45:59

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