Caitlin Clark and Iowa had to rally together to come back from a double-digit deficit to force overtime, and they went on to win their third straight Big Ten tournament title in an extremely close game against Nebraska
Caitlin Clark scored 34 points in Iowa’s overtime victory ( Image: Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark could be heard encouraging sell-out Iowa crowd with the team in a precarious position, needing an answer to Nebraska to come back and win in the Big Ten Tournament final on Sunday. As the game was tied heading in to overtime, Clark was seen and picked up by cameras motioning towards the crowd in Iowa, as she shouted: “Come on! Five more minutes!”Nebraska had already defeated Iowa once this season and looked like it could do so once again when it went up by a point with 1:11 to go in overtime. But Clark had it taken care of, making a clutch 3-pointer and two free throws to help Iowa to a 94-89 victory.That was despite an extremely cold opening to the game, which included missing her first nine shots from deep.
The all-time NCAA leading scorer finished 5-for-17 from 3-point range, with 34 points while adding 12 assists including hitting the late long-shot as well as the clutch free throws to close the game.
The win now means Clark has won three consecutive Big Ten tournaments, and she praised the team’s spirit in the comeback after her slow start.
She told reporters: “If we’re down 15 points with 2 minutes left or down five with 2 minutes left, we have the firepower to be in any game. We just found a way to win, and that speaks to the team that we have, the maturity we have on this group. We were down … I don’t remember exactly what it was, with two minutes to play, and we never gave up.”
Caitlin Clark helped Iowa claim a Big Ten Tournament title after the Hawkeyes missed out on the regular-season crown ( Getty Images) Over 18,000 were in attendance to see Clark in her last Big Ten Tournament game ahead of the NCAA Tournament set to begin later this month.
“BACK TO BACK TO BACK !!!!!!!” wrote Clark on X in celebration. “GET THE GIRLS SOME RINGS!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU HAWK FANS”
Clark will hope to win her first national championship, with undefeated South Carolina and last year’s champions LSU among the other favorites.
After the season, Clark will move onto the WNBA Draft after declaring earlier this month. Clark is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
