"Hawks support Hawks": Kate Martin & NFL star AJ Epenesa's jersey swap moment receives shoutout from Iowa

Kate Martin was involved in an Iowa Hawkeyes tribute moment with Buffalo Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa. The former Hawkeyes guard swapped jerseys with Epenesa, a formidable presence on Iowa's defense from 2017-19.

Iowa women's basketball Instagram account uploaded a picture of both former Iowa athletes at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

Martin held the #57 jersey of the Bills DE while Epenesa posed for the photo with the #20 jersey of the Las Vegas Aces guard. The post was captioned:

"From Edwardsville to Iowa City to Vegas.

"Hawks Support Hawks 🫶"

Martin's Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun 85-74 in today's WNBA game. The former Iowa athlete got only eight minutes on the court, and recorded one rebound, scoring two points.

Kate Martin-Caitlin Clark WNBA reunion

It wouldn’t have been easy for Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin to see each other wearing different jerseys last month when they came up against each other.

The Las Vegas Aces edged out a 99-90 victory over the Indiana Fever. Clark, who has been struggling since she made the switch to the big league, managed to record eight points, seven assists, and five rebounds.

Martin, on the other hand, helped the Aces with a career-high 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Aces guard gave her candid remarks about the reunion with Clark in her post-match experience. She said:

"It was weird, I'm not gonna lie," Martin admitted. "Just looking out on the court, and, you know, seeing her in a different jersey than me. It was obviously different, but, you know, we're both living out our dream right now, and we both get to compete at the highest level."

The former women’s college basketball icons were cheered on by their Iowa coaches – Lisa Bluder, Jan Jensen, and assistant Raina Harmon. Both Clark and Martin raised the level of interest in women's basketball during their college days, especially Caitlin who also became women's top scorer of all time.

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