The Iowa Hawkeyes’ desires of a first-ever nationwide championship in girls’s basketball had been dashed on Sunday afternoon by the LSU Tigers, who used a hot-shooting first half to grab management and set an Girls’s NCAA Match file for factors in a championship recreation of their 102-85 victory.  

Caitlin Clark’s thrilling and historic event got here to an in depth in defeat, however not earlier than she added one other 30 factors and eight assists in a valiant effort. Within the course of, she set numerous event and championship recreation information, which can endlessly immortalize her unimaginable run over the previous few weeks. 

“It definitely helps breaking a file, you realize, if you get to play the utmost quantity of video games in a season,” Clark stated. “And that is what I am pleased with is that this group, you realize, we bought to play your entire time. 

“I believe that is what bums me out essentially the most about that is, you realize, I knew there was this final 40 minutes collectively and I used to be simply attempting to cherish it. And yeah, I am unhappy that we misplaced, do not get me mistaken, however I am extra unhappy that I do not get to come back again to apply with my greatest pals tomorrow.” 

With the 2023 Girls’s NCAA Match now formally within the books, this is a glance again at Clark’s historic effort by the numbers:

191

Clark was a scoring machine all season lengthy, however she elevated her recreation previously few weeks to get the Hawkeyes to their first-ever nationwide title recreation. She dropped a number of 40-point video games, and averaged 31.8 per recreation for the event. Her 191 whole factors set a brand new file for a participant in a single NCAA Match — males’s or girls’s. 

The earlier girls’s file was held by Sheryl Swoopes, who scored 177 whole factors for Texas Tech in 1993 as she led them to the varsity’s solely nationwide championship. Within the males’s event, the file belongs to Glen Rice, who scored 184 factors for Michigan to hold them to what was additionally their solely nationwide championship in 1989. 

60

Whereas Clark’s scoring obtained a lot of the consideration, and for good cause, she’s additionally a dynamic playmaker. Should you ship a number of defenders to drive the ball out of her fingers, or go to sleep for a split-second on the weak aspect, she’s keen and capable of finding her teammates. 

Clark’s eight assists within the title recreation on Sunday took her to 60 for the event and a good 10 per recreation common. The 60 whole assists set a brand new file for a participant in single girls’s event. She fell simply shy of Mark Wade’s 61 assists for UNLV in 1987, which is the boys’s mark. 

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Within the Elite Eight, Clark and Iowa squared off with Hailey Van Lith and Louisville in what was an intense and aggressive recreation till the Hawkeyes broke issues open within the third. They did so due to a Clark-led surge; the star scored or assisted on 16 of their 30 factors within the body. 

That was the story of your entire recreation, as Clark completed with 41 factors, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to file her fifth triple-double of the season and eleventh of her profession. In doing so, she turned the primary participant in event historical past — males or girls — to have a 40-point triple-double. 

“Are you kidding?” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder stated of Clark’s efficiency. “It is thoughts boggling,”

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Clark’s 41-point triple-double towards Louisville despatched Iowa to the Closing 4 and arrange a much-anticipated showdown with South Carolina, the undefeated reigning nationwide champs. To ensure that the Hawkeyes to attain the upset, they wanted Clark to have one other historic outing, and she or he did simply that.

She delivered not solely the most effective efficiency of her profession, however top-of-the-line by any participant ever within the event to steer Iowa to a dramatic 77-73 win. Even the Gamecocks’ elite protection could not sluggish her down, as Clark poured in 41 factors on 15-of-31 from the sphere, and added six rebounds and eight assists. Her 41 factors had been essentially the most ever in a event semifinal, and she or he turned the primary participant in event historical past with back-to-back 40-point video games. 

“I believe she’s essentially the most phenomenal basketball participant in America,” Bluder stated. “I simply do not suppose there’s anyone like her. In so many regards, not solely scoring, however passing the ball, dealing with the ball. She had the ball in her fingers nearly on a regular basis tonight towards some fairly good defensive gamers.

“After which it is her mentality. I believe that is what’s so particular. She believes in herself. She believes in her teammates. She’s so assured, however she’s put the work in to should have that confidence.”

8

Iowa has been an elite 3-point taking pictures group all season lengthy due to Clark’s personal shotmaking and her passing. They leaned closely into that strategy on Sunday within the championship recreation, and shot the ball extraordinarily properly (14-of-30). It was not sufficient, nevertheless, as LSU shocked everybody by hitting 11 3s of their very own (greater than double their season common). 

Whereas Clark obvoiusly would have needed the win greater than one other file, she did etch her identify on one more web page within the historical past books by hitting eight triples of her personal. That was essentially the most 3s anybody — males or girls — has ever hit in a event championship recreation.