Some college basketball fans, including veteran NBA stars, were disappointed by the apparently biased officiating during the University of Iowa’s win over West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Monday night.
Caitlin Clark and the top-seeded Hawkeyes survived a sluggish offense against the No. 8 Mountaineers, 64-54, but when the foul call ultimately came down to West Virginia, according to the box score, He was called for 27 personal fouls, while Iowa State was called for 27 personal fouls. He was whistled for just 11 fouls.
Iowa State made 25 of 30 free throws on the night, while West Virginia made 5 of 3 for the entire game.
And many on social media claimed that the referees favored the home team in a packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Milwaukee Bucks star: “I feel like the West Virginia women’s team is being treated badly by the referees.” Damian Lillard said: In the post of X.
“If Iowa played the Lakers, who would get more calls?” Bill Simmons of The Ringer I have written.
“West Virginia is getting a job from these referees,” said USA Today columnist Dan Wolken. Added.
“This is unreasonable. It’s completely upsetting.” he continued In a follow-up post. “I feel bad for the West Virginia team. They played a better game than Iowa and they’re not going to get any reward at all. I hope these referees don’t step forward.”
Clark scored 32 points, including 11 from the free throw line, helping the Hawkeyes advance to the Sweet 16.
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The Mountaineers went on a 10-0 run to tie the score with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Clark and Iowa forward Hannah Stelke made nine free throws to secure the victory.
Iowa made 14 of 17 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Zach Boyden-Holmes / USA TODAY NETWORK
“I think we took advantage of the crowd,” Clark said of Iowa’s fourth-quarter efforts. “Even though we were down 10-0 at the start of the quarter, this team never faltered. That speaks to our experience. … We wanted to go out on a high.”
Clark made a late free throw to break Kelsey Plumb’s single-season NCAA Division I scoring record of 1,109 points.
“This is definitely on par with their best team. They crushed this mentally, emotionally and physically and got the win,” Clark said of the win.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register/USA TODAY NETWORK
After the Buffaloes defeated No. 4 Kansas State in the Round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play No. 5 Colorado in the Sweet 16 in Albany on Saturday.
