Iowa holds off West Virginia as Hawkeyes advance to Sweet 16, Caitlin Clark drops 32 points

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The No. 1 seed Iowa Hawkeyes in the women’s basketball NCAA Tournament are heading back to the Sweet 16, but it was no easy task against the No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers. 

The Hawkeyes defeated the Mountaineers, 64-54, but they needed to scratch and claw their way to victory in surprising fashion. 

It was a slow start for Iowa after they went down 11-5 early in the first quarter, but they managed to leave it with a 20-15 lead. 

However, a very low-scoring second quarter by both teams ended up with a halftime score of 26-24 in favor of Iowa. 

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Hannah Stuelke #45 of the Iowa Hawkeyes shoots the ball over Jayla Hemingway #00 of the West Virginia Mountaneers  during the second round of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rebecca Gratz/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Many saw this game as a blowout candidate when looking at the schedule, but the second half would prove the Mountaineers were a relentless opponent, even if the Hawkeyes walked away victorious. 

It seemed Iowa was done playing games, as the third quarter ended with them owning a 48-38 lead. But this game was tied with just 5:18 left to play in the fourth quarter after Jayla Hemingway knocked down a three-pointer to put an exclamation point on a 10-0 run. 

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The Hawkeyes finally got on the board in the fourth when Sydney Affolter hit both her free throws to retake the lead. But the scoreboard would go back and forth, as West Virginia battled to tie things up again before