Unstoppable phenom Caitlin Clark shatters records, leads Iowa to huge upset over Ohio State!

DCB Team March 6, 2024 3

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 35 points in her final home game of the regular season, becoming the NCAA's all-time scoring leader in No. 6 Iowa's 93-83 win over No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday.

Hannah Stuelke scored 23 points and Gabbie Marshall added 12 for the Hawkeyes (26-4, 15-3 Big Ten), who clinched the second seed behind Ohio State in next week's Big Ten Tournament. The regular-season champion Buckeyes (25-4, 16-2) had their 15-game winning streak snapped.

“I think you can say it's a statement,” Clark said when asked what the win means heading into the conference tournament. “But more than anything, it's a good boost for our team to get to the Big Ten Tournament. You never want to go into the Big Ten Tournament with a loss. So I think taking advantage of this is really important.”

Clark, who announced Thursday that he would enter the WNBA draft After the season, despite having another year of eligibility remaining, he made two free throws with less than a second left in the first half to eclipse Pete Maravich's 3,667 career points. Clark has 3,685 points heading into the postseason.

The Hawkeyes were facing a similar scenario when they finished last season, when they defeated regular-season champion Indiana on a Clark three-pointer. But there was no need for late drama as Iowa took control of the game in the first half.

“This conference is amazing,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Two top teams are battling it out right here in the Big Ten.”

The Hawkeyes went on an 18-3 run in the first quarter to take a 25-10 lead. Ohio State rallied in the second quarter to pull within four points twice, and trailed 44-39 after Rikki Harris' 3-pointer with seven seconds left before a wild sequence of events closed the half.

Stuelke was fouled on a layup attempt with three-tenths of a second left. McMahon was then assessed a technical foul after the play for hitting Clark during the dead ball. Stuelke made both of his free throws, then Clark made two to break Maravich's record, and Iowa led 48-39 at halftime.

“Hannah stepping up and making two free throws was huge,” Clark said. “And then I make two. It’s like she took the wind out of them after they had just fallen and made a layup.”

The Hawkeyes maintained control in the second half, leading by as many as 17 points.

Jacy Sheldon led Ohio State with 24 points. Rebeka Mikulasilova scored 14, Taylor Thierry had 11 and McMahon and Celeste Taylor had 10 points each.

The Buckeyes were outrebounded 38-31 and Iowa scored 16 points off 17 Ohio State turnovers.

“We weren't good enough with our transition defense or our rebounding,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “And we had some really costly turnovers that turned into points. “I think that was the story of the game for the most part.”

“It sucks,” Sheldon said of the loss. “But now we can focus and prepare for the Big Ten Tournament.”

Kate Martin added 11 points for Iowa.

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Ohio State: There were times when the Buckeyes lost their composure, in addition to McMahon's technical foul. Rikki Harris received a technical foul in the second half. Four of Clark's points arose from technical issues. “Players sometimes feel like they're not being refereed evenly and they react,” McGuff said. “And as I tell you all the time, we can't control that. “We can control how we react and what we do, and we can learn from that.”

Iowa: The Hawkeyes could have suffered a serious playoff loss when guard Molly Davis was injured with 6:42 left in the first half. Davis, who has started 27 games this season and averaged 6.3 points per game, fell to the court and grabbed his knee. She was taken out of court. Davis, who played a key role in Iowa's run to the national championship game last season, attended the postgame Senior Day ceremonies in a wheelchair with his right leg completely bandaged. Bluder said she would know the extent of Davis' injury on Monday.