For all the scoring she does, it’s easy to forget about the passing ability of Caitlin Clark.
Michigan won’t forget, as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer dissected the Wolverines defense Saturday to lead Iowa to a 95-68 win in the Big Ten tournament semifinals and send the Hawkeyes to the conference title game.
Clark finished the day tying a season-high with 15 assists, entering the game averaging a Division I-high 8.6 assists per game. She also finished with a game-high 28 points.
Iowa will now meet Nebraska in the Big Ten final on Sunday, as the Hawkeyes go for their third straight conference tournament title, eying a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
There was a brief scare when Hannah Stuelke, the second leading scorer for Iowa, went down and grabbed her knee in the fourth quarter, but she got up quickly on her way to the bench. Her status for Sunday’s game will be something to watch.
Here's a look back at all the action from Saturday's semifinal:
Saturday was just another day of Clark showcasing her talents, and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder once again praised her star player’s efforts against the Big Ten’s best scoring defense.
“She’s amazing,” Bluder said postgame. “I love how much she contributes.
“She's hard to guard. I mean Michigan is a good basketball team, they're a good defensive team, we know that. (Clark) is so good in transition.”
The Hawkeyes are now just a few minutes away from a date with Nebraska in the Big Ten title game, leading 81-59 with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Clark quickly scored seven of Iowa’s nine fourth quarter points, and a nothing but net 3-pointer got the Target Center crowd rocking as if the game was being played in Iowa City. She now has 28 points, 15 assists and four rebounds.
Iowa can smell the blood in the water.
The Hawkeyes are starting to pull away from Michigan as they head into the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead.
Clark was limited to just two-made free throws in the third quarter, but her teammates kept the offense up with a 21-point quarter. Meanwhile Michigan wasn’t able to sustain its hot first half by making only four of 19 shot attempts.
Starting the second half cold wasn’t something Michigan could afford, but the Hawkeyes have extended their the lead to 15 points halfway through the third quarter.
The Wolverines are now shooting 38% from the field compared to Iowa’s whooping 65%. Iowa now has three players in double-figures, led by Clark’s 19 points.
After hitting another logo 3-pointer, Clark stuck her tongue out like Michael Jordan, just another case of the NCAA all-time leading scorer showing off her greatness after she picked up 14 points in the second quarter to give her a total of 19 in the first half.
In addition to the 19 points, Clark has 11 assists and three rebounds, as has been part of 18 of the 22 made shots for the Hawkeyes.
Michigan has stayed in the game thanks to nine made 3-pointers, but Iowa has dominated in the paint with 34 points coming near the basket and shooting a whopping 69% from the field. Michigan has the best scoring defense in the Big Ten, giving up only 62.8 points a game, but the nation's top scoring offense is on fire.
Clark is putting her mark all over the Target Center court, as she notched a double-double in just the first 15 minutes of the game. It's her 20th double-double of the season.
She has 12 points with 10 assists and she’s been involved in 14 of Iowa’s 19 made buckets. Clark could very well notch a season-high in assists, which is currently 15.
Despite how hot Michigan has been, Iowa isn’t letting the Wolverines take control.
The Hawkeyes are back on top as a 7-0 run has given them a 33-28 lead less than three minutes into the second quarter. Clark was responsible for all of the points in the run, including an easy spot up corner 3-pointer. After Sydney Affolter picked up a steal, she dished it out to Clark for the easy layup, forcing Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico to take a timeout.
You wouldn’t know Michigan ranks in the bottom half of the Big Ten in scoring after that first quarter. The Wolverines made their six 3-point attempts and used a 10-0 run to take the three point lead after 10 minutes. Lauren Hansen made three of those 3-pointers and led all scorers with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Clark has made her presence known early in the matchup with five points and six assists in the first period.
After a sluggish start against Penn State on Friday, Clark is not wasting any time making an impact against Michigan, but the Wolverines are keeping up.
After making her first bucket of the game, Clark made another one of her signature long pull-up 3-pointers, a much improved start than missing the first 11 3-point attempts like she did yesterday. Clark’s teammates are also feeling it, starting the game bt making six of their first eight shots.
But don’t count out the Wolverines just yet. They are just as hot, with Michigan making its first three 3-point attempts to make it a one-point game at the first media timeout. — Jordan Mendoza
The Big Ten tournament semifinal game between Iowa and Michigan is set to tip off inside Minneapolis' Target Center around 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Iowa-Michigan game will air on the Big Ten Network.
The Iowa-Michigan game can be live streamed via the Fox Sports app or streamed on Fubo.
Here's a breakdown of Clark's scoring this season for the Hawkeyes:
Caitlin Clark has 3,709 career points heading into Saturday's Big Ten tournament semifinal.
Iowa's Caitlin Clark is averaging 32 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.6 assists in 31 games this season.
Top highlights of Clark from the 2023-24 season:
Clark is 6-foot. Big guards have become more common in women’s basketball the last decade or so, and Clark’s size absolutely helps her because she’s able to see over defenders on the break and helps her get vertical separation when she goes up for a shot. Also of note: Clark, who’s pretty thin, worked hard last summer to put on eight pounds of muscle and that has made a huge difference in her game, particularly when she drives to the rim.
Caitlin Clark’s admiration for Steph Curry wasn’t going to keep her from breaking his record.
Clark’s 3-pointer with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter was her 163rd of the year, breaking Curry’s single-season NCAA record.
“Steph’s amazing,” she said after the game. “Somebody I grew up idolizing, so a cool moment.”
Clark had missed her first 11 shots from 3-point range. When she finally made one, she lifted her arms in triumph and stuck out her tongue.
“It took me a while,” she said, laughing. “Some of (the) best shooters in the world have off nights.”Clark would make another later in the quarter, and now has two more than Curry made in his sophomore year at Davidson. - Nancy Armour
Clark's highest-scoring game was also her record-breaking performance on Feb. 15 against Michigan in the 2023-24 season, when she scored 49 points. Clark shot 16-for-31 that game, including 9-for-18 from 3. She also grabbed five rebounds and handed out 13 assists in the 106-89 win.
If women’s basketball fans and advocates are honest about why the Caitlin Clark phenomenon is breaking through in a way that superstars in previous eras of their sport have not, they need to acknowledge an indelicate but crucial factor in her popularity.
While grievance is a powerful tool in sports and has long been necessary to advance equality and create opportunity for women, Clark has never presented herself as the face of a larger cause. Part of her appeal to the fans who have either ignored or mocked women’s basketball in the past — mostly men, of course — is that they aren’t being shamed to pay attention. Her charisma and style stand on their own.
And now that Clark has passed the 3,667-point mark that has forever been associated with Pete Maravich, that’s exactly where her achievements should remain.
On their own. Just like Pistol Pete’s. Read Dan Wolken's column here.
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