MINNEAPOLIS — It won’t be long before Caitlin Clark’s college career is in jeopardy every time she steps on the court.
In just one night, the dream of Iowa’s last chance to win its first national championship could be extinguished.
Clark will also need help if the Hawkeyes are to get back to the title game.
The Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals turned into an unthinkable nightmare for Division I’s all-time leading scorer as Clark missed his first 11 3-pointers.
Still, despite Clark’s uncharacteristically called shooting and his third-lowest scoring total of the season (24 points), No. 3 Iowa defeated Penn State 95-62 at Target Center on Friday night.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her miss 11 threes in a row, and that probably includes practice and everything else,” Iowa coach Lisa Bruder said. he said. “It’s funny how many people say you have an off night when you’re scoring 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Kaitlyn has an off night?” …Her I’m very happy that my teammates have picked up the slack in that area. It gives us even more confidence to move forward. ”
Clark’s frustration was obvious — she didn’t make her first field goal until midway through the second quarter and didn’t make a 3-pointer until the fourth — but she quickly pushed through and became the nation’s assist leader. It allowed one Clark to win full time. -Court, cross-court, behind-the-back darts.
Her teammates combined for 13 3-pointers, with four of them scoring in double figures.
Clark was 5-of-19 from the field (2-of-14 from 3-point range) and 12-of-13 from free throws.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get up there and fire the next shot, but to be honest, that’s probably what poisons me sometimes. I just fire.” Clark said. “Even if it took 20, I was going to make one before the buzzer hit zero.
“This is a game. You take hundreds of thousands of shots. It doesn’t really matter. … We won by 30 points. We didn’t shoot the three-ball very well, but there are a lot of other things that affect the team. I did something.”
Hours after No. 4 Ohio State suffered a blowout loss to Maryland, Iowa State (27-4) had no reason to sweat.
The Hawkeyes led 10-0 before Clark took his first shot.
She was the only Iowa starter not to hit a field goal in the first quarter, which ended with Iowa leading by 18 points.
Clark remained confident, demanding the ball every time a defender dropped an inch. She continued to be active defensively off the bench.
When she finally hit her first 3-point shot on her 12th attempt, she laughed and jokingly asked the black-and-gold crowd for props. The audience gave the struggling star a standing ovation. She passed Stephen Curry for the NCAA single-season 3-point record (164).
“When I built this, I was vandalizing it and messing it up,” Clark said. “You’ve got to have fun. I think our team had a lot of fun tonight.”
At worst, the end result could not have been better.
The Jacksons aren’t just about Michael.
