CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark's remarkable college basketball career ended for the second straight year after the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the University Huskies 71-69 in the Final Four on Friday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. will be followed by the women's NCAA Championship Game.
Clark had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. The Hawkeyes will play No. 1 overall seed South Carolina for the title on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. The Gamecocks (37-0) defeated North Carolina State 78-59 in Friday's first semifinal.
“I'm really grateful. It's been the last two years of my college career,” Clark said of back-to-back title game appearances. “It would be very special to come out on top, but we're going to give it our all. South Carolina has been the best all year, and it's like they were on a different level than everyone else.”
“We're going to do the best we can. Just give it our all. I only have 40 minutes left in my college career.”
Clark emphasized that the fact that she has one more game left is due to the effort of the entire Iowa State team.
Sophomore post player Hannah Stuelke led the Hawkeyes (34-4) with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. It was the second time this season that Clark was not Iowa's leading scorer. It was Stelke who stepped up in both games. Stuelke scored a career-high 47 points against Penn State on Feb. 8, but given the high stakes of her Friday, this was likely the best game of her career. She received high praise from Clark.
“Confidence is everything,” Stelke said. “It gives me confidence, especially hearing Caitlin Clark talk like that about me. I think everyone says that. But they sent the ball to me really well, and tonight the ball It was heading towards me.”
“We were very happy with her development tonight. She just took another big leap tonight as a sophomore,” Iowa coach Lisa Bruder added of Stuelke.
Senior guard Kate Martin contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, and Iowa won the rebound battle 37-29. Hawkeyes guard Gabby Marshall committed a key late offensive foul on Aliyah Edwards with 3.9 seconds left, clinching the victory.
Clark's specialty, 3-point shooting, failed in the first half as he made 0 of 6 long range shots, and Iowa led 32-26 at halftime, scoring just 6 points on 3 of 11 shots overall. Ta.
The Hawkeyes had more turnovers (12) than field goals (11) in the first half. This is a testament to how well the Huskies' defense worked, especially Nika Muhl against Clark. Iowa's 26 points tied for the lowest point of the season and matched the score from the first half of the game, which defeated West Virginia in the second round.
But Iowa's offense was much better in the second half, as the Hawkeyes scored 25 points in the third quarter and the game went into the final period tied at 51-51. Iowa State outscored UConn 20-18 in the fourth quarter.
“This speaks to the journey we've been on this past month,” Clark said of winning the Big Ten tournament and reaching the NCAA finals. “Not every game is going to go well. You can't always come out here and expect to play aggressively and make shots and just flow perfectly. That certainly wasn't the case in the first half. .We went into the locker room and the main focus was to stop turning the ball over. We knew our shot would miss at some point.
“I think we could have been a little more patient. One of the things Coach Bruder talked about at halftime was we were all running around like a mess. No one was looking at each other, No one was really setting the screen, no one was looking at the cutter.''It was kind of out of control. So it was like, 'Take a breath, slow down and really execute the attack.'
Iowa State leads Division I this season with 91.4 points per game, but defense has been the key to all five of the Hawkeyes' NCAA Tournament wins. That was evident Friday as the Hawkeyes won despite scoring 20 points below their average. It was fitting that Marshall, the team's defensive specialist, made such a big play in the final seconds.
Clark is expected to be selected No. 1 by the Indiana Fever in the April 15 WNBA Draft. The Fever, who haven't made the playoffs since 2016 but have a talented young core, open the season on May 14 at Connecticut.
But Clark will first face South Carolina, the team Iowa defeated in last year's semifinals, seeking its third NCAA championship. Iowa State, which lost 102-85 to LSU in last year's final, is seeking its first national championship.
UConn was trying to reach its 13th NCAA final. The Huskies won 11 titles. Their last appearance in the NCAA Championship Game was in 2022, when they lost to South Carolina.
“We're going to do the best we can. Just give it our all. I only have 40 minutes left in my college career.”
Iowa's Caitlin Clark faces South Carolina for national championship
UW guard Paige Backers, who entered college in the same class as Clark but missed last season with a knee injury, will return next season in hopes of winning her first national championship. Edwards, who is headed to the WNBA Draft with the Buccaneers, led UConn with 17 points each Friday.
“All I can really feel right now is the pain of loss,” Bakkers said. “When the season ends, it takes time to process the wins and losses and the whole journey. But especially this year, from my perspective, you just appreciate it as it goes on.”
Clark currently has career totals of 3,921 points, 1,139 assists, and 982 rebounds. During her senior season, she became Division I's all-time leading scorer for both men and women, and the first player in women's basketball to score more than 3,000 points and record 1,000 assists. She also holds the record for most points in a season with 1,204 points.
But Clark's career will also be measured by his impact on game attendance and television ratings. Iowa State sells out every home game and many road games in 2023-24 after drawing a crowd of 55,646 to preseason games at Kinnick Stadium, home of the Iowa State football team. .
The 2023 national championship game starring Clark drew 9.9 million viewers on ABC. And in Monday's Elite Eight, Clark scored 41 points in a rematch with LSU that drew 12.3 million viewers on ESPN.
The only thing Clark needs to accomplish at Iowa is win an NCAA title. However, an undefeated team stands in their way.
“South Carolina is at the top of the top,” Clark said. “We're going to do everything we can to be with them. I think the biggest thing is to enjoy tonight. And we're going to go scouting early in the morning.”