Kim Mulkey isn’t crying over Caitlin Clark heading to the WNBA soon.
The Lady Tigers coach praised Iowa’s iconic sharpshooter after Clark and Iowa defeated Mulkey and LSU in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Monday night.
“What did I say to her?” Mulkey said. “I said, ‘I’m so glad you’re leaving.’ Girl, you’re a different person. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Mulkey has seen firsthand why Clark is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history in each of the past two tournaments, but this time her team was able to defeat the Hawkeyes, who defeated the Tigers 94-87 on Monday. There wasn’t.
Last season, LSU defeated Iowa State 102-85 in the title game despite Clark’s 30 points and eight rebounds.
On Monday, Clark had 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for LSU. The Lady Tigers had no answer for Clark, who made 13 of 29 shots from the field and 9 of 20 from deep.
Clark’s nine 3-pointers tied an NCAA women’s tournament record.
Clark was particularly active in the third quarter after his team broke even at 45-all. She hit four 3-pointers to give Iowa a 69-58 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“There’s not a lot of strategy,” Mulkey said when asked about Clark’s defense. “You have to guard her, no one else can seem to guard her. When we beat them last year, we didn’t even guard her. She’s just a generational player. And she just makes everyone around her better. That’s what great people do.
“I think they had kids who scored 21 points (Kate Martin) and 18 points (sic, 16 points; Sidney Affolter). (Clark) had 12 assists. Caitlin Clark herself… You’re not going to beat her. What she does to make other teammates better helps her earn points, and helps her teammates earn points to beat you. .”
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With Clark’s season over at LSU, the Lady Tigers are three wins short of becoming the reigning national champions since UW won four straight from 2013-2016.
