No. 8 Virginia Tech traded blows with No. 3 Iowa, but ultimately, Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes were too much for the Hokies.
“We’re a work in progress,” Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said after the loss. “We didn’t do everything right, we didn’t, but we played hard and we will fix the things we need to fix, but I’m very proud of their effort.”
The game, which many tabbed as the biggest of the year, lived up to the hype, as the stars came out on either side of the ball.
Clark scored 44 points – just one shy of her career-high and the most ever made by a Virginia Tech opponent, and Georgia Amoore posted a career-high 31 points and had a few highlight reel shots, including this half-court heave to end the first quarter:
“You’re playing a generational player,” Brooks said of Clark. “I love my girls, but sometimes you’re playing checkers and she’s playing chess. She’s that good. But I thought we did a good job of making her work and think a lot tonight.”
Iowa came into the contest returning all of its starters from last season, while the Hokies had three – and the newcomers of Rose Micheaux and Matilda Ekh struggled against the Hawkeyes.
Micheaux only logged seven minutes, while Ekh shot 3-of-11 from the floor and a grim 1-of-7 from behind the arc, notching seven rebounds and seven points total.
Cayla King struggled, too, and dealt with foul trouble early. She picked up two fouls early in the first quarter, which ushered redshirt freshman Carleigh Wenzel in to defend Clark.
Ultimately, it was still a win for women’s basketball as a sport. The 15,196 spectators in the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. was the most fans in attendance for a regular season Hokies women’s basketball game.
The Hokies host Houston in Cassell for their next contest on Thursday.