Clark plays down big night, rips Iowa D in loss

IOWA CITY, Iowa — On an evening she had her fifth profession 40-point scoring sport for Iowa, guard Caitlin Clark lamented her No. 10 staff’s defensive deficiencies in a 94-81 loss to No. 12 NC State on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Area.

“I feel at any time when I rating 40 factors, we lose,” Clark mentioned. “So it isn’t one thing I need to do.”

Truly, Iowa’s document in these video games is 2-3, with the 2 victories coming final season. Thursday, Clark completed with 45 factors, essentially the most scored this season by a Division I girls’s participant.

It was one level wanting her profession excessive, and three wanting the Iowa girls’s college document of 48 by Megan Gustafson. Clark was 16-of-28 from the sector, making 5 3-pointers, and had six rebounds and 4 assists. Nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient.

“Solely 10 [team] assists tonight, and that is not Iowa basketball,” Clark mentioned. “We might have run our offense higher. We might have gotten Monika [Czinano] the ball higher. Then we scored, however we could not get stops.

“We did not play protection. I feel it is fairly easy. We might have scored greater than 90 factors, and we nonetheless would have misplaced the sport. It comes right down to protection, and we all know that.”

The Wolfpack’s victory gave the ACC/Huge Ten Problem to the ACC, which received eight of the 14 girls’s matchups Wednesday and Thursday. It was the fifteenth and ultimate 12 months of the problem, which the ACC received 11 occasions. The Huge Ten received as soon as, and the leagues tied 3 times. Subsequent season, the ACC enters a problem collection in males’s and ladies’s basketball with the SEC.

NC State moved to 7-1, with its solely loss coming to then-No. 5 (and present No. 3) UConn, 91-69 in Hartford, Connecticut, on Nov. 20. The Wolfpack fell in double-overtime to UConn within the NCAA Elite Eight final season and misplaced 4 starters off that staff. However returning guard Diamond Johnson is now main the staff in scoring. She and switch Saniya Rivers, who spent her freshman season final 12 months with nationwide champion South Carolina, every had 22 factors Thursday.

Rivers was requested what extra they might have carried out to decelerate Clark.

“Nothing. I felt like I contested [her shots] very well,” Rivers mentioned. “Nice protection, but it surely’s simply higher offense. All you are able to do is respect it and get again. I positively did not let it get to my head. She hit one, I hit one. … It was only a enjoyable matchup.

“However 45? That is insane. I am glad that we got here collectively as a staff. We had 5 in double figures. So, you recognize, you possibly can’t win it alone. I am simply glad we had been the higher staff tonight.”

NC State coach Wes Moore mentioned he noticed quite a lot of Clark throughout his time as a committee member for numerous USA Basketball groups she participated on.

“I like her loads. I feel she’s actually became an all-around participant,” Moore mentioned. “She’ll lead the world in assists, additionally. She would not thoughts giving it up. She’s received nice imaginative and prescient. She will rating off the bounce, rating mid-range, rating from deep, actually deep. I do not know the way you cease her. Possibly play a triangle-and-two and put two on her.”

Nonetheless, the Wolfpack had their highest level complete in a real highway sport since 2011 and got here away with the victory. Moore mentioned of their effort, “We would have liked to see that.”

The Hawkeyes, who had been the No. 4 staff within the Related Press preseason ballot, at the moment are 5-3 after losses to Kansas State, UConn and NC State. Clark, who led Division I girls in each scoring and help common final season, is now averaging 29.0 PPG, however she is aware of the Hawkeyes must be higher.

“We performed good protection for one quarter, however you need to do it for all 4,” Clark mentioned. “I believed [the defense] was fairly good in opposition to UConn [Sunday], however then we come right here on our house ground, and it wasn’t good in any respect.”