The last time Caitlin Clark did not lead the Iowa Hawkeyes in scoring was on Feb. 12, 2023, 361 days ago. On Thursday night against the Penn State Nittany Lions, it happened again, and the star was Hanna Stuelke.
Stuelke ended the night with 47 points, for once overshadowing the irrepressible Caitlin Clark, who scored 27 points amid her run to breaking the women’s college basketball scoring record.
After the game, the $818,000 NIL-valued Clark backed Stuelke on her Instagram stories with the simple caption:
“Easy.”
Hanna Stuelke was scarily efficient in the game, scoring 17-of-20 field goals and 13-of-21 from the free throw line. The last time a player other than the popular Clark scored 40 points for the Hawkeyes was previous record points scorer, Megan Gustafson in 2018.
The record for most points in a game for Iowa is 48 points, which is also owned by Gustaffson. Stuelke also holds the record for most points scored at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena, covering both men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Stuelke was typically modest about her sensational performance:
“I think it’s really cool. I remember watching Megan (Gustafson) and watching her score so many points and now, like, I’m the one the little girls look up to and I think that’s just amazing.
“I think my confidence is going to come up a lot. I know now I can be more aggressive offensively, so that’s exciting. My free throws still aren’t where I want them to be, but I can keep working on that every day.”
Hanna Stuelke gets Caitlin Clark’s seal of approval
Hanna Stuelke previously had a college basketball career-high of 22.0 points against Fairleigh Dickinson on the opening night of the season, but she finally received the praise she was due.
“(Caitlin Clark) has a lot of confidence in me,” Stuelke said after the game. “She wants me to keep playing at my best, so she just keeps building me up.”
Even though she was overshadowed on the night, managing 27 points and dishing out 15 assists, Caitlin Clark was effusive in her praise of Stuelke after the game.
“I think that’s what everyone’s been waiting for,” Caitlin Clark said. “She’s had glimpses of being really, really great like that, but we all know how good she is.
“I’m just proud of her. She works so hard. She’s put in so much time, especially this summer. (She has) been dealing with a little bit of a knee injury. To come out here and play like that, it’s exactly what we needed.”
The night felt like a handing over of the baton to the next generation by the superstar Clark to the aspiring Stuelke.
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