INDIANAPOLIS — Gabbie Marshall scored 22 of her career-high 27 points by halftime, Monika Czinano and Caitlin Clark scored in bunches over the final two quarters and sixth-seeded Iowa knocked third-seeded and No. 19-ranked Rutgers out of the Big Ten tournament 73-62 in Thursday night’s quarterfinals.
Iowa (17-8) will face seventh-seeded Michigan State (15-7), which had earlier upset No. 9-ranked Indiana, in a Friday semifinal.
One night after Iowa made a season-low 3 of 22 shots from 3-point distance, Marshall knocked down seven treys, including all six of the Hawkeyes’ long-rangers in the first half. Czinano scored 12 of her 20 in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting, and Clark scored 14 of her 21 in the second half.
Czinano surpassed 1,000 points, the 38th Hawkeye to score 1,000 points in their career.
The trio accounted for all but five of Iowa’s points, making 27 of 45 shots while the rest of the Hawkeyes were 2 of 9 shooting. Clark and Marshall combined for nine of Iowa’s 10 3-pointers. Clark also had 10 assists for her eighth double-double.
Diamond Johnson tied her career high with 26 points for Rutgers (14-4) in her first career postseason game, and added eight rebounds and five steals for the Scarlet Knights. Arella Guirantes poured in 20 points for Rutgers, 14 after halftime as the Knights struggled to come back from an early 21-point deficit.
Guirantes scored the first six for Rutgers to open the third quarter, reeling the Hawkeyes back as close as 10 points, 41-31, after Iowa’s 39-25 lead at the break. Iowa’s 21-point lead in the second quarter was the largest deficit of the season for Rutgers. The previous being 20 points in Iowa’s Dec. 31 win during the regular season.
Rutgers launched a last-gasp run in the last 5:24, stringing together seven straight points to get the deficit down to single digits, 69-61, the closest the Scarlet Knights had been since 15-9.
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