Caitlin Clark nets historic 41-point triple-double to ship Iowa into Ultimate 4
SEATTLE — Caitlin Clark placed on a present with 41 factors, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to assist No. 2 seed Iowa beat fifth-seeded Louisville 97-83 on Sunday and ship the Hawkeyes to their first ladies’s Ultimate 4 in 30 years.
The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the ladies’s NCAA Event nationwide semifinals on Friday evening.
The Seattle 4 Area champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 area that has South Carolina taking part in Maryland on Monday evening.
Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Ultimate 4 since Corridor of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the workforce to its lone look in 1993. Earlier than Sunday, the workforce had solely been to 1 different Elite Eight — in 2019 — for the reason that Ultimate 4 workforce.
Clark had the eleventh triple-double of her profession and the nineteenth in NCAA Event historical past. She had the primary 30- and 40-point triple-double in March Insanity historical past.
Trailing by 5 on the half, Louisville reduce its deficit to 48-47 earlier than Clark and the Hawkeyes scored the subsequent 11 factors as a part of a 17-6 run to blow the sport open. That introduced many of the pro-Iowa crowd of almost 12,000 followers to their toes.
Louisville was down 22 with just below 6 minutes left earlier than occurring a 13-1 run to get inside 86-76 with 2:10 left. The Cardinals might get no nearer.
Clark left the sport with 22.7 seconds left and hugged coach Lisa Bluder.
Hailey Van Lith scored 27 factors and Olivia Cochran had 20 factors and 14 rebounds to guide Louisville (26-12).
Clark hit eight of the Hawkeyes’ season-high 16 3-pointers, together with just a few from simply previous the March Insanity brand. It was a college file for the Hawkeyes within the NCAA Event, blowing previous the earlier mark of 13 in opposition to Gonzaga in 2011.
Louisville scored the primary eight factors of the sport, forcing Iowa to name timeout. Then Clark obtained going. The 6-foot junior scored the primary seven factors for the Hawkeyes and completed the opening quarter with 15 factors. When she wasn’t scoring, she discovered open teammates with precision passes.
She additionally had 4 assists within the first 10 minutes, accounting for each certainly one of Iowa’s factors because the Hawkeyes led 25-21.
Clark continued her mastery within the second quarter, hitting photographs from all around the courtroom, together with just a few of her well-known long-distance 3s from close to the brand.
Louisville was capable of keep within the sport, because of Van Lith. After scoring the primary six factors of the sport, she went quiet earlier than getting going late within the second quarter. She had 11 factors within the second quarter because the Cardinals discovered themselves down 48-43 on the break.
Clark had 22 factors and eight assists within the opening 20 minutes en path to the fourth-highest scoring complete all-time in a NCAA regional.
1,000-POINT CLUB
Clark has 984 factors this season and is seeking to be part of kind Hawkeye Megan Gustafson with 1,000 factors in a single 12 months. 4 different gamers have achieved it, together with Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, who achieved the feat this season. Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stiles and Odyssey Sims had been the others to do it.
HOMETOWN HERO
Van Lith as soon as once more performed properly in her residence state. The small-town standout from 130 miles away from Seattle grew into being top-of-the-line prep gamers within the nation, the all-time state highschool chief in scoring and now a star for the Cardinals.
A whole lot of followers from her hometown of Cashmere, which has a inhabitants of three,200, took within the sport, cheering the Louisville star on.