Pride women's basketball to open season with exhibition against Iowa

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The reigning NAIA Women's Basketball Champion will take on the 2023 NCAA Division I runner-up as Clarke University women's basketball will travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the University of Iowa in an exhibition contest on Sunday, Oct. 22 at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

"This has always been a game our players have wanted for years and we couldn't be more excited to go out there and compete with one of the best teams in the entire country," head coach Adam Hocking said.

This will mark the second time in three seasons that the Pride will play an exhibition game against a team that is coming off of an appearance in the Final Four and NCAA Championship Game as they went to the west coast in 2021 to face Stanford University following their 2020-21 NCAA Championship season.

In 2023 it will be Clarke coming off of the university's first ever national championship season following earning the NAIA title in the 2022-23 season following a program best 33-4 overall record as they will take on the Hawkeyes in a tune-up game for both teams at 2:00 p.m. CT following Iowa's 31-7 2022-23 season that saw them reach the NCAA title game for the first time in program history.

The Pride will head into the 2023-24 season led by two-time NAIA All-America Honorable Mention selection Nicole McDermott as the senior from Cascade, Iowa enters her fourth season with career totals of 1,130 points (14th), 672 rebounds (10th), 261 assists, and 160 steals as her assist and steal totals sit just outside of the top-10 in program history.

"What a once in a lifetime opportunity for our student-athletes here at Clarke," Hocking said. "These ladies have certainly earned this honor to share the court with some of the nation's best in Lisa Bluder, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes."

Clark, also entering her senior season, is the reigning Naismith Women's College Player of the Year, Wooden Award National Player of the Year, and Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year among a laundry list of other accolades after leading the Hawkeyes to the Final Four and scoring 1,055 points and totaling 327 assists as the first player in Division I women's basketball history to have a season with over 1,000 points and 300 assists.

For gameday information related to women's basketball games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, fans can visit https://hawkeyesports.com/wbbgameday/ as Iowa has announced full sell outs of all of their home women's basketball games, including exhibitions, so fans are encouraged to explore secondary market ticket options if they have interest in attending the Oct. 22 contest.

"Giving our players the best student-athlete experience is always a high priority for our coaching staff and this is certainly one that our players and families will hopefully remember for a very long time," Hocking said. "We could not be more thankful to appreciative to Coach Bluder and the Iowa Hawkeyes for this tremendous opportunity."

The Clarke women's basketball season will officially begin on Nov. 1 with a road game at St. Ambrose as fans can view the full 2023-24 Pride schedule at https://clarkepride.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/schedule.