Indiana downs Iowa, UNC beats NC State in a pair of top-10 Thursday night upsets

A pair of top-10 upsets headlined a busy night of women’s college basketball on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know:

No. 14 Indiana silences No. 4 Iowa, remains undefeated at home

Just one game removed from Caitlin Clark breaking the all-time women’s NCAA scoring record, the Hoosiers welcomed Iowa to Assembly Hall with smiles on their faces from start to finish. Indiana took an 11-point lead into the locker room at halftime and never looked back, beating the Hawkeyes 86-69 to improve to 14-0 at home. 

The Hoosiers were led by a dynamic duo of Sara Scalia and Mackenzie Holmes who scored 25 and 24 respectively. A sort of inside-out attack the two made Iowa pay in all kinds of different ways. Scalia not only drilled three crucial three-pointers throughout the game, she was also perfect (8-8) from the FT line. Holmes was a force inside for IU, shooting 11-16 and grabbing nine rebounds. 

Although, the normal star of the show, Caitlin Clark, put up an impressive 24 and 10 double-double, with nine assists, Indiana’s defense suffocated Iowa elsewhere. Outside of Clark the Hawkeyes only combined for 45 points. 

Indiana now leaps Iowa in the Big Ten standings, improving to a 13-3 record. Iowa falls to 12-3 in conference, with both squads chasing No. 2 Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten, only losing one game in conference play so far. 

North Carolina’s balanced scoring attack downs No. 6 NC State

Anything is on the table in a rivalry game. Especially when one rival is unranked and the other is in the top-10 — oh, and the unranked team is playing at home. 

Welcome to Chapel Hill, where rules aren’t made up and the points DO matter. North Carolina was aware of that from start to finish. The Heels were able to find balance across their roster to beat the Wolfpack, 80-70. 

Five UNC players found themselves scoring in double-digits, led by Lexi Donarski who hit five threes and shot 9-16 from the field. Donarski wasn’t the only one to catch fire from beyond the arc, as Alexandra Zelaya drilled four long-range missiles with Indya Nivar adding two more to the Tar Heel stat sheet. 

North Carolina is now tied for sixth in the ACC with Notre Dame after the rivalry win. NC State falls to 11-4 in the conference with a date against Duke next, in Durham. Carolina will visit Blacksburg to take on conference-leading Virginia Tech on Sunday.