‘What better way to end it all’: Caitlin Clark, Hawkeyes celebrate three-peat
It’s time to write a chapter in the mythical story of Caitlin Clark. With just more than two minutes to play, Iowa trailed Nebraska by eight. Clark refused to let them lose.
It may have taken one of the wildest endings in Big Ten Tournament history, but Iowa — and the thousands of fans that came to see them — celebrated a three-peat.
“What better way to end it all,” Clark said. “We had the overtime, we fight back. Bad shooting, good shooting. Defensive stops — I mean it just really had it all on the biggest stage and we can’t be happier for our group.”
Clark finished with 34 points, but began the game 2-for-13 and 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half. She delivered in the fourth quarter and overtime, and admitted her freshman or sophomore self wouldn’t have been able to win this game.
“I just think she has matured so much mentally,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “That goes into emotions — we cant control officials, we can’t control that sort of thing and she was able to bounce back.”
“Obviously she didn’t have a very good first half. You can keep Caitlin down for a half you’re not keeping her down for a whole game, there’s no way.”
“I think we’ve got a veteran team that’s been — in a lot of positions before,” Kate Martin said. “Basketball’s about runs. They went on runs, we went on our runs. We came back hit some shots and ultimately won the game.”
“We never got down on ourselves,” Sydney Affolter said. “I know we were down for a lot of the game — we were down by 11 but we just kept digging. We just kept sticking together and believing in each other and that’s all that matters.”
The win means the Hawkeyes most likely clinched a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and will return to Carver “Central” for potentially two more games as they look to make another run back to the Final Four. We’re just getting started folks.
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