The spark for Iowa’s late-season run came in a lopsided loss

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots a 3-pointer throughout a drill at Local weather Pledge Area in Seattle on Thursday. The Hawkeyes face Colorado in a Candy 16 ladies’s basketball recreation Friday. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

SEATTLE — They had been whipped, humbled and embarrassed.

“Whenever you get 30-pieced on the highway, it isn’t enjoyable,” Monika Czinano mentioned.

Not enjoyable. However possibly mandatory.

When Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder was requested Thursday for a season-defining second, she didn’t level to any of the Hawkeyes’ 28 victories.

“I believe the spark was truly our Maryland loss (96-68, Feb. 21),” Bluder mentioned. “It did not carry us again to actuality, as a result of my group was by no means cocky or something like that. But it surely certain like gave us a spotlight.”

Since that whipping, greater than a month has handed. Iowa has gained six straight video games, two towards top-10 groups. The Hawkeyes beat Indiana on the buzzer, avenged the loss to Maryland, stomped Ohio State within the Huge Ten event ultimate and reached the Candy 16.

And that’s the place we stand right now.

Its window wide-open for a primary Closing 4 ladies’s basketball look since 1993, third-ranked Iowa (28-6) faces No. 21 Colorado (25-8) in a Seattle Area 4 semifinal Friday.

Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. (Iowa time) at Local weather Pledge Area.

The Hawkeyes imagine that they’re right here, no less than partially, because of what occurred in that messy recreation at School Park.

“I believe that loss form of stung a bit,” Caitlin Clark mentioned. “We knew we would have liked to alter some issues.”

Bluder, who preaches tradition and chemistry anyway, used that rout as a possibility to tighten the Hawkeyes’ circle.

“It introduced us just a little bit nearer collectively, for some purpose,” she mentioned. “I believe it even introduced us even tighter.”

The Hawkeyes are 5 1/2-point favorites to win Friday and attain their fourth Elite Eight.

Within the different semifinal, at 9 p.m., Louisville (25-11) meets Mississippi (25-8).

The regional ultimate is 8 p.m. Sunday, with the survivor advancing to Dallas and the Closing 4 subsequent week.

Iowa is again at full energy. Hannah Stuelke, who missed the second-round win over Georgia with a sprained proper ankle, was at full-go in apply Thursday.

“I’ve completed lots of stuff, needling, pool work,” she mentioned. “Making an attempt to get higher, and it labored. Our coach is superb.”

Whereas the Hawkeyes efficiently defended their house courtroom within the first two rounds, the opposite three groups in Seattle Area 4 took the longer path to the Pacific Northwest.

Colorado knocked off 3-seed Duke in time beyond regulation at Durham. Ole Miss tripped top-seed Stanford, and Louisville toppled 4-seed Texas.

“Seeing parity in ladies’s basketball is large for the sport,” Bluder mentioned. “It’s enjoyable to observe for the informal fan.

“There’s a deeper expertise pool now. TV publicity has helped so much for the reason that Huge Ten Community got here on the scene. And the switch portal has modified issues.”

Iowa has been the mannequin of stability for the higher a part of three seasons. The Hawkeyes’ beginning 5 — Clark, Czinano, McKenna Warnock, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall — have began 88 video games collectively, essentially the most of any unit at any college since 2000.

A type of video games was an irregular 2021 Candy 16, with restricted media and followers.

“Yeah, I imply, clearly that is actually new, so I believe it is a studying expertise for all of us,” Clark mentioned.

Colorado, in the meantime, has superior to the second weekend for the primary time since 2003.

In fact, Clark (26.8 factors, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists per recreation) is atop the Buffaloes’ scouting report.

“There’s not anyone factor you are able to do to cease her. She has in all probability had so many defenses thrown at her,” CU’s Jaylyn Sherrod mentioned.

Feedback: jeff.linder@thegazette.com