Caitlin Clark leads Iowa to first Final Four since 1993

SEATTLE (AP) — Caitlin Clark put on a show with41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to help No. 2 seed Iowa beatfifth-seeded Louisville 97-83 on Sunday and send the Hawkeyes totheir first women’s Final Four in 30 years.

The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’sbeen all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’sNCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. The Seattle 4Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 regionthat has South Carolina playing Maryland on Monday night.

“I thought our team played really well. That’s what it’s allabout. I was going to give it every single thing I had,” saidClark, who was the region’s most outstanding player. “When I camehere I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, andall you’ve got to do is dream. And all you’ve got to do is believeand work your butt off to get there. That’s what I did, and that’swhat our girls did and that’s what our coaches did and we’re goingto Dallas, baby.”

Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Famecoach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in1993. Before Sunday, the team had only been to one other EliteEight — in 2019 — since the Final Four team.

Clark had the 11th triple-double of her career and the 19th inNCAA Tournament history. She had the first 30- and 40-pointtriple-double in March Madness history.

“We might not be the most athletic, we might not be the fastest,we might not be the best defenders, but we play for one another.That’s going to take you really far,” Clark said. “That’s what it’sall about. Our circle is tight and more than anything we’re eachothers best friends. That will carry you a long way.”

Trailing by five at the half, Louisville cut its deficit to48-47 before Clark and the Hawkeyes scored the next 11 points aspart of a 17-6 run to blow the game open. That brought most of thepro-Iowa crowd of nearly 12,000 fans to their feet.

Louisville was down 22 with just under 6 minutes left beforegoing on a 13-1 run to get within 86-76 with 2:10 left. TheCardinals could get no closer.

Clark left the game with 22.7 seconds left and hugged coach LisaBluder.

After the game, Clark paraded around the court holding theregional trophy high above her head, delighting the thousands offans who stuck around to celebrate their Hawkeyes.

Hailey Van Lith scored 27 points and Olivia Cochran had 20points and 14 rebounds to lead Louisville (26-12).

Clark hit eight of the Hawkeyes’ season-high 16 3-pointers,including a few from just past the March Madness logo. It was aschool record for the Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament, blowing pastthe previous mark of 13 against Gonzaga in 2011.

Louisville scored the first eight points of the game, forcingIowa to call timeout. Then Clark got going. The 6-foot juniorscored the first seven points for the Hawkeyes and finished theopening quarter with 15 points. When she wasn’t scoring, she foundopen teammates with precision passes.

She also had four assists in the first 10 minutes, accountingfor every one of Iowa’s points as the Hawkeyes led 25-21.

Clark continued her mastery in the second quarter, hitting shotsfrom all over the court, including a few of her famouslong-distance 3s from near the logo.

Louisville was able to stay in the game, thanks to Van Lith.After scoring the first six points of the game, she went quietbefore getting going late in the second quarter. She had 11 pointsin the second quarter as the Cardinals found themselves down 48-43at the break.

Clark had 22 points and eight assists in the opening 20 minutesen route to the fourth-highest scoring total all-time in a NCAAregional.

1,000-POINT CLUB

Clark has 984 points this season and is looking to join formHawkeye Megan Gustafson with 1,000 points in a single year. Fourother players have done it, including Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist,who accomplished the feat this season. Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stilesand Odyssey Sims were the others to do it.

HOMETOWN HERO

Van Lith once again played well in her home state. Thesmall-town standout from 130 miles away from Seattle grew intobeing one of the best prep players in the country, the all-timestate high school leader in scoring and now a star for theCardinals.

Hundreds of fans from her hometown of Cashmere, which has apopulation of 3,200, took in the game, cheering the Louisville staron.