ALBANY, NY — Caitlin Clark sits in the confetti, not far from where she usually shoots and smashes from deep. The mob of teammates, family, and friends had naturally cleared an available position, just as LSU had cleared space for her to tie her career high of nine 3-pointers. She pulled her new Final Four hat low and wrote on her phone. I scrolled a little. She wiped her face after a long work day.
The college senior desired some quiet time to take a few deep breaths. As paparazzi snapped shots, a piece of net she had cut from the rims of MVP Arena popped high from her ponytail.
“These moments pass quickly. “I know how quickly they move,” Clark said in the locker room. “My career is practically finished, and I will never win another Elite Eight game. “Soak it in and enjoy it.”
Minutes afterward, she returned to the fray for selfies and confetti throwing. Young children who remained after the majority of the 13,888 strong crowd had left chanted her name in unison in an attempt to elicit a grin from the superstar, whom they witnessed score 41 points with relative ease against the team that kept her from a national championship.
This time, Iowa celebrated after defeating LSU 94-87 to win the stacked Albany 2 regional and advance to the Final Four. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer broke several other records, including career 3-pointers, a tie for most 3s in a game, and Pearl Moore’s all-time all-school scoring record.
The title game rematch was highlighted as soon as the brackets were released, and it became must-see TV when both club qualified for the Elite Eight on Saturday.
But Iowa players and head coach Lisa Bluder emphasized afterward, as they did in the days leading up to it, that they were not motivated by retribution. For them, this has nothing to do with LSU. It didn’t matter whatever team stood in the way. Clark, Gabbie Marshall, and Kate Martin’s careers will end after the run concludes. Bluder advised them to live in the moment and keep it alive.
“If you live in the past too much that it kind of ruins the present,” Clark went on to say. “That is what we talked about. Stay where your feet are. The main topic we discussed was, “What does Iowa need to do to win this game?”
Iowa needed to get off to a fast start, sink three-pointers, and play strong defense. It completed all three. Clark gave everyone a taste of what was to come on the Hawkeyes’ first possession, pulling up and hitting from deep after Hannah Stuelke grabbed the game’s first rebound. She entered the NCAA tournament 11-of-34 from three, following a shaky Big Ten performance from deep.
“I probably haven’t been shooting it as good from three over the course of the last five or so games,” Clark told ESPN. “But even if you told me that, I would still have 110 percent belief in myself and what I’ve been able to do this year.”
On the following possession, she drove in to establish the lane. Gabbie Marshall tipped a pass on the perimeter at the other end, collected it, and feed Stuelke for two more points.
The Hawkeyes led by as many as nine points in the first quarter and were tied at halftime, 45-45. Clark stepped out of the locker room and sank her fourth 3-pointer, propelling Iowa to a crushing 24-13 third quarter. Clark went 4-of-7 from three in the period, building a 69-58 lead that LSU couldn’t cut into until the final minutes.
“There isn’t much strategy. You must protect her. “No one else appears to be able to guard her,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey remarked. “We didn’t even protect her last year when we defeated them. She’s a generational player who elevates everyone around her. “That is what the great ones do.”
Cameras recorded LSU guard Hailey Van Lith shrugging a “what can you do” in response to one of Clark’s shots, an exasperation the Iowa standout frequently instills in opponents and will continue to do for at least one more game at the college level.
“She’s an excellent player. “She made some tough shots,” Van Lith remarked. “There’s not a whole lot you can do about some of the threes she hit.”
“Her distance shots were amazing tonight,” Bluder added. “Her logo 3s were amazing. How would you defend that, right? “It is almost impossible.”
When she scored her ninth and final three-pointer at 5:05 to make it an 11-point game, she banged her chest and stared at the audience, letting out the emotions of a difficult year trying to come back. She didn’t realize she had done it.
“I think I just got hyped for a second, honestly,” she was quoted as saying. “I was trying to be calm and cool. When you play a team like LSU, you can never count them out. No matter what the time or score is.
The emotional component is a major reason why the game’s audience figures are projected to break records. Clark and LSU phenom Angel Reese trash talked their way through the championship game and have since become entangled in a wider conversation about it. Reese is frequently chastised for it, while Clark received notice for his antics in the first round game.
“It could have been a highly emotional game,” Bluder said. “It could have been a lot of talking going on out there. Just from what happened at the end of last year. Honestly, she put it aside. She put everything aside.”
Bluder credited her star for building up her teammates in the huddle, and each stepped up in their own way. Stuelke battled foul trouble, but was 3-of-5 for eight points going up against Reese in the paint. Martin scored 21 and Sydney Affolter, thrust into the starting lineup in the postseason, scored 16 to earn all-region honors. Clark fed them early, giving up her own shot for a game-high 12 assists that dazzled casual fans lighting up social media. Yes, Clark is an exquisite passer with assists that boggle the mind.
“Caitlin Clark is not going to beat you by herself,” Mulkey said. “It’s what she does to make those other teammates better that helps her score points and them score points to beat you.”
Defensively, she also stepped up. Clark, Martin and Marshall each had two steals apiece in a quality defensive showing. Marshall stood out on the perimeter tipping passes and creating problems for LSU’s offense to get rolling.
“I mean, nothing pops off the [stat] page besides [she] never got a sub the entire game, and she is working her tail off on defense constantly,” Martin said.
Flau’jae Johnson remained LSU’s pulse with 23 points, freshman Mikaylah Williams added 18 and both Reese (17 points, 20 rebounds) and Aneesah Morrow (14 points, 14 rebounds) secured double-doubles. Reese rolled her ankle in the first half and said after the game she’s been playing through an injury to it for a while.
Marshall and Addy O’Grady, the center who stepped into quality minutes with Stuelke benched, each notched blocks as did Clark. The senior put a resounding end to the game and 15 seconds later she dribbled out the clock on what she hopes isn’t her last trophy-lifting experience.
“You’re never satisfied with being in the Final Four,” Clark went on to say. “We came really close to attaining our target last year. Being able to return there is incredible, and you enjoy it and soak it all up. But once there, you sort of turn the page.”
As the celebration came to an end, Clark fled the court carrying a pen, accompanied by additional photographers. She signed t-shirts and sneakers for children one by one. Parents hoisted their children’s gear over their heads in an attempt to get an autograph or a greeting. Photographs were taken as she walked into the tunnel, the back of her No. 22 and the tip of the net swaying from her hat. Her final week of college will go by quickly. She just hopes that it doesn’t end too soon.
Leave a Reply