Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark sank an incredible deep three early in the NCAA championship game against LSU Tigers with history on the line. The Hawkeyes are making their first appearance in the national championship, and guard Clark, 21, has played a massive role in getting there.
She turned in a 41-point performance in Iowa's dramatic semi-final win over defending national champions South Carolina, which went on to become the most-watched college women's basketball semi-final of all-time with 6.6million viewers tuning in.
Clark is hoping to do more of the same in the championship game against the Tigers and got off to a good start by sinking a deep three early on in the first quarter. The No22 received the ball halfway up the court, bounced the ball twice before executing the astonishingly clean shot.
But Clark’s highlight reel moments didn’t end there, with the game still in its infancy. Clark scored an astonishing 14 points before the end of the first quarter, including another three three-pointers. She also got two assists. It was also Clark’s 90th straight game scoring 10-plus points.
Clark may have dropped the second most points in a single women’s NCAA Final Four game against South Carolina, but she’ll undoubtedly be gunning for the record held by Sheryl Swoopes. While turning out for Texas Tech against Ohio State in a championship game in 1993, Swoopes scored a record 47 points.
But by the end of the second quarter, Clark had only recorded 16 points, needing to average 15-plus points in the final two quarters. Iowa are also trailing the Tigers. LSU's Jasmine Carson took the first half headlines, scoring 21 points and leading her team to a 59-42 half-time lead in their quest for a first championship of their own.
Before Sunday’s final, Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder was asked how she would plan to stop Clark if she was facing her instead of coaching her. "Pray," she told reporters.
Clark’s individual accolades are quite a sight. Before the championship game, Clark had 11 career triple-doubles, 43 career double-doubles, had made a three-pointer in 56 straight games and is the first Division I women’s basketball player to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in a single year.
LSU’s Kim Mulkey is in awe of Clark too. "I’ve never seen a player – I don’t like to use the word ‘never’ – but I don't know that I’ve ever seen a player that can do what Caitlin does," said Mulkey, who led LSU to its first national title game appearance. "The things she’s capable of doing – one minute you think you’re going to guard her a certain way, then you watch the film and change your mind and go, ‘Oh, that’s not going to work.’ Hopefully, by the end of the day, we’ll come to some conclusion as a staff that we’re going to try this first, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll try this."
