Caitlin Clark's game-winning 3-pointer saves Iowa women's basketball vs. Michigan State

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Those cloaked in Iowa gold wiggled and fidgeted as the scoreboard drama intensified, this sold-out affair unfolding much differently than expected. The long Big Ten slog tends to produce a few of these even for seasoned squads.

In swooped Caitlin Clark to make sure everyone rested easy.

Locked in a clunky offensive battle Tuesday with a Michigan State women's basketball team trending upward, No. 3 Iowa had to quickly brush away any thoughts of a masterpiece and shift to finding an escape route. Unsurprisingly, it was Clark who located it — burying a logo trey at the horn to hand the Hawkeyes a 76-73 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

"Honestly," Clark said, "when it left my hand, I knew it was going in."

CAITLIN CLARK TRACKER: Iowa star is making a run at NCAA scoring record

The immediate moments before Clark's final act of an incredible 40-point night served as a microcosm of the Hawkeyes' erratic offensive evening. With time running out and Clark hunting an opening that was hard to locate, this 73-73 affair seemed destined for overtime.

Hannah Stuelke, with her back to the basket at the top of the key, dished it over to Clark — who shook free from Michigan State's Moira Joiner for just a second before hitting a stepback to the left and firing away.

The sweet swish and ensuing roar let everyone know the outcome.

"Those are situations we work on at the end of practice every single day," said Clark who finished 14-for-34 from the field and 8-for-20 from deep. "We ran a play to inbound the ball, got it cleanly. Molly (Davis) did set a clean pick on my girl, but Hannah's defender was up guarding her pretty well.

"I think it kind of worked out in my favor because my girl almost went for a steal a little bit, and then I was able to get to my stepback to the left — which is the shot I want to get to."

Concerning quickly shifted to celebratory with Clark's magical heave, but little up to that point had unfolded smoothly for the Hawkeyes. Just as it was last season at the Breslin Center, Tuesday's matchup featured a bunch of scrappy Spartans hunting a monumental upset. A roaring home crowd that easily brushed off an 8 p.m. weekday tip did little to derail Michigan State when the tense, late energy kicked in.

Clark's trey with 2:32 left handed the Hawkeyes a 71-67 advantage and offered Michigan State a chance to bow out admirably. But the Spartans didn't take it. Consecutive buckets brought Michigan State back even, and the same happened after DeeDee Hagemann countered Molly Davis' two free throws for a 73-73 tie.

Trotting to the locker room in a 37-35 halftime hole had to be unsettling for the Hawkeyes, given how well the opening 20 minutes unfolded aside from two barren stretches.

Iowa opened up a double-digit cushion late in the first quarter and led by nine with six minutes until the break, before sputtering into intermission with similar struggles seen at the start. After landing the opening blow with an 8-0 run to start the game, Michigan State closed the half with a 9-0 surge that saw Iowa muster nothing over closing four minutes.

This squad enduring one extended drought like that is stunning enough; then came another one barging in early in the third quarter. The Hawkeyes finished six seconds short of a second four-minute scoring drought and spent the entire third period chasing, until Clark decided to punctuate this one the only way she knows how.

Clark finished with the 40 points on 14-of-34 shooting (8-of-20 from 3-point range), five assists and just one rebound (she averages nearly seven per contest). Hannah Stuelke scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Iowa. No other Hawkeye scored in double figures.

Kate Martin led the Hawkeyes with 11 rebounds and added four assists. Molly Davis finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Iowa improved to 14-1 and 3-0 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes play at Rutgers on Friday night.

Michigan State is 11-3 and 1-2. The Spartans were led by Julia Ayrault's 16 points.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.