Clark played her final home game Monday, finishing with 32 points. Iowa will play Colorado in the Sweet 16.
Scott Dochterman, Chantel Jennings and more
(Rebecca Gratz / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
The Athletic Staff
How to watch and what to know
Caitlin Clark took the floor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena one final time Monday — and there's a lot on the line.
No. 1 seed Iowa beat No. 8 seed West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament second round. The Hawkeyes are back in the Sweet 16 in a quest to return to the national championship game.
The Hawkeyes advance to play No. 5 Colorado in the Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y.
On a night where West Virginia's defense made everything difficult for Iowa, Clark finished with 32 points with five 3-pointers and by making 11 of 12 free throws. Hannah Stuelke recorded four blocks to help offset Iowa's 15 turnovers.
How to watch
The game is televised on ESPN and available to stream in the ESPN app.
Related reading
- In Iowa City, Caitlin Clark isn’t the only star. Meet Money Martin, The Headband and March-all
- Are Caitlin Clark and Iowa on upset alert vs. West Virginia on Monday?
- Full tournament coverage in our Women's NCAA Tournament hub
- Updated bracket
___
For ticket information on all tournament games, click here.
Iowa overcomes turnovers for victory
Iowa star Caitlin Clark knew what to expect from her opponent Monday night. Speaking to reporters on the eve of the No. 1 Hawkeyes’ round of 32 matchup with No. 8 West Virginia, Clark cited the Mountaineers’ defensive prowess as the first thing that jumped out on tape.
“They’re going to want to turn us over,” Clark said. “They’re one of those teams that really feeds off of turnovers. One turnover can turn into five for a team.”
Yet even the sport’s best player, knowing full well what was coming, can be thrown off by a vaunted press. In the first half, Clark recorded more turnovers (four) than assists (three), making only four of her 11 field goal attempts. Clark and the Hawkeyes, slowed by West Virginia’s physicality and full-court ball pressure (on both makes and misses), scored its fewest first-half points all season (26).
Advertisement
Nobody's going home
Fans at Iowa didn't want to stop celebrating. The arena was packed long after the game ended as the fans celebrated Hawkeyes' seniors who played their last games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Clark sets another record
Clark now also owns the single-season NCAA Division I record with 1,110 points. She Kelsey Plum (1,109) with 21 seconds left. Clark earlier passed Plum this season to become the Division I all-time scoring leader.
Clark's free throws give cushion
Clark sunk both her free throws with 45 seconds left for a 58-52 Iowa lead.
Quinerly fouls out
West Virginia's JJ Quinerly fouls out with 15 points. Iowa leads 55-52 with 1:07 remaining. Quinerly was the Big 12 defensive player of the year. Three other West Virginia players have four fouls.
She put Hannah Stuelke on the line for Iowa, making one and missing one.
One-possession game
With 1:18 left, Iowa leads 55-52. Sydney Affolter drove to the basket and was fouled. She hit the free throw. Now Iowa has the ball after a review.
Advertisement
Season-low assists
With 3:44 left, Clark is tied for her season low on assists with only three. Iowa is 0 of 7 shooting in the fourth quarter with their limited ball movement.
West Virginia's grit on display
You've got to give West Virginia a ton of credit right now. Down 10 points entering the fourth with a ferocious crowd favoring the Hawkeyes, the Mountaineers have battled back and held Iowa without a point. The Hawkeyes are barely going to their posts and leaving shooters wide open for easy 3-pointers.
Another Iowa scoring drought
West Virginia tied the game 48-48, outscoring Iowa 10-0 in the fourth quarter.
Iowa's grinding it out
As much as anything, the third quarter for Iowa was about dominance on the boards and becoming more aggressive. The Hawkeyes outrebounded West Virginia 14-4 in the quarter and forced the Mountaineers to foul eight times, more than twice the calls in the first half. It may be a foreign concept for the nation's highest scoring team, but Iowa is grinding it out like a football game at this point.
Heads-up play from Clark
There's a play Clark wouldn't have made as a freshman or sophomore. With 29 seconds to go in the third quarter and Clark leading the transition (and having numbers after a broken play on the other end), Clark smartly dribbled it out to make sure the Hawkeyes would get the final shot of the quarter. They worked the ball around and got it to Kate Martin, who was fouled on a 3. Martin converted two of three free throws to give Iowa a 10-point lead heading into the final quarter.
The foul by West Virginia's Kyah Watson was her fourth.
Advertisement
Clark from deep ...
Clark hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game. She's up to 19 points and is shooting 50 percent from the field.
Foul trouble flusters West Virginia
Kylee Blacksten just picked up her third foul and Mark Kellogg brings his 6-3 forward to the bench. That's a huge blow for the Mountaineers. They have other options for defending Hannah Stuelke in the post, but none with the height of Blacksten.
It will be interesting to see how the Hawkeyes change their attack and if they attempt to get into the post even more now.
In the second quarter, four total fouls were called. In the first 4:40 of the third quarter, West Virginia has been called for four.
Hawkeyes fans on their feet
On basically every position heading back on defense, Caitlin Clark is motioning to the crowd to get on their feet. The Hawkeyes lead by seven, but it feels anything but safe for Iowa. This is where that home-court advantage can really serve a higher-seeded team. First round games tend to be most chalky, but in these second rounds, we've seen close battles time and time again, and so Clark is smart to try and engage those 14,000+ Iowa fans to give the Hawkeyes any kind of edge they can get.
Quinerly returns for West Virginia
JJ Quinerly returned at the end of the first half and started in the second half for West Virginia. She had tweaked her left knee in the second quarter.
Iowa ends half on a scoring drought
This game was all about how much contact the officials chose to allow. West Virginia's swarming defense has caused issues for Iowa, and the officials have allowed contact for 94 feet. In the second quarter, there were four combined foul calls and 11 total in the first half. That has helped West Virginia keep the possessions at a minimum and frustrated the Hawkeyes, who lead 26-24. Iowa ended the half with a scoring drought lasting 4;49 and missed its last four shots.
Advertisement
Bluder bemoans turnovers
At halftime on ESPN, Lisa Bluder bemoaned Iowa's passing turnovers. She expressed the Hawkeyes were trying to execute unnecessarily difficult passes. Clark has been guilty of a few of those, uncharacteristically. She has four of Iowa's 9 turnovers. West Virginia forces opponents into more than 23 turnovers per game on average.
West Virginia was held to a season-low points in a quarter with only 6 in the second stanza. The Hawkeyes also have hit only 3 of 12 3-pointers (all from Clark).
Iowa leads 26-24 at halftime
One of the things West Virginia has done masterfully is getting right up on Caitlin Clark the moment she touches the ball — off misses, off makes, in transition, whatever. And because of that, Clark has had a tougher time being able to look up and survey the floor. Those long, needle-threading passes we're used to seeing in transition? That hasn't been available to her at all. Through the first half, Clark tallied only three assists to four turnovers. Iowa leads 26-24 at halftime.
Quinerly on the sideline
West Virginia's JJ Quinerly (7 points) is on the sideline after appearing to tweak her knee on a play. According to ESPN, she's using an electronic stimulator on her knee in the second quarter.
Load more updates
