Iowa
Iowa advances in Big Ten Tournament despite Caitlin Clark’s uncharacteristic slow start
MINNEAPOLIS — It won’t be long before Caitlin Clark’s collegiate career will be at stake every time she takes the court.
One off night could spell the death of a dream, her last chance to give Iowa its first national championship.
If the Hawkeyes are to return to the title game, even Clark needs help.
The Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals doubled as an unthinkable nightmare for Division I’s all-time leading scorer, as Clark missed her first 11 3-point attempts.
Still, No. 3 Iowa cruised to a 95-62 win over Penn State at the Target Center on Friday night despite Clark’s uncharacteristically cold shooting and third-lowest scoring output of the season (24 points).
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her miss 11 3s in a row, and that could probably include practice and everything else,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “It’s funny, Caitlin has an off night, and how many people would say you have an off night when you have 24 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists? … I’m just so glad that her teammates picked up the slack in that area. It just gives us so much more confidence moving forward.”
Clark’s frustration was palpable — she didn’t make her first field goal until midway through the second quarter and didn’t hit a 3-pointer until the fourth quarter — but also quickly pushed aside, allowing the nation’s leader in assists to facilitate with full-court, cross-court and behind-the-back darts.
Her teammates hit a combined 13 3-pointers, with four scoring in double figures.
Clark made 5 of 19 field goals (2-for-14 3-pointers) and 12 of 13 free throws.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get up there and shoot the next one, but honestly, maybe that’s my poison sometimes, I’m just going to launch it,” Clark said. “I was going to make one before the buzzer hit zero, even if it took 20 of them.
“This is one game. I take hundreds of thousands of shots. It doesn’t really matter. … We won by 30 points. I didn’t shoot the 3-ball that well, but I did so many other things that impacted my team.”
Hours after No. 4 Ohio State was stunned by Maryland, Iowa (27-4) never had reason to sweat.
Before Clark took her first shot, the Hawkeyes led 10-0.
She was the only Iowa starter without a field goal in the first quarter, which ended with Iowa up 18.
Clark remained confident, asking for the ball whenever a defender dropped an inch. She remained engaged, defensively and from the bench.
When she finally hit her first 3-pointer, on her 12th attempt, she laughed, jokingly asking for props from the black-and-gold crowd, who erupted with a standing ovation for the star who can do wrong, who amid her struggles still passed Stephen Curry for the NCAA single-season 3-point record (164).
“I was trolling and messing around when I made that,” Clark said. “You’ve got to have some fun. I thought our team had a lot of fun tonight.”
At her worst, the final result couldn’t have been much better.
The Jacksons are more than just Michael.
One Iowa high school athletic department is facing extremely low numbers in multiple sports, prompting school officials to begin searching for programs to share with.
Exira-EHK High School has already cancelled the upcoming 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association varsity football season, going instead with a junior varsity-only series of games. According to a report by Western Iowa Today, they have also shared softball with Audubon.
The Exira-EHK/Audubon softball team is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 1A of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. A total of 11 of the players on the 23-girl team are from Exira-EHK. They are 15th in the latest High School On SI Iowa Top 25 State Rankings as they prepare for postseason play.
Enrollment For Exira-EHK School District Continues To Drop
Enrollment at the high school level for the Spartans is down by over 20 students, with the expectation for even more of a drop in overall enrollment moving into the 2026-2027 school year.
Tom Petersen, the Exira-EHK athletic director, was part of a community-wide meeting earlier this week alongside Trevor Miller, the school superintendent.
“I’m going to continue to campaign, keep working (to get more kids out),” Petersen said. “It’s just part of being an AD and a coach. I have tried every scenario that I can to try and make it that our kids could go and play varsity (football).
“It’s not the state’s fault, it’s not our fault; it’s the middle of a two-year cycle. I coached here for 20 years in football and it’s crushing (to not have a program).”
Petersen also mentioned during the meeting that he is struggling to fill several coaching vacancies, including the head boys basketball position. He said that they have received zero applications for that coaching vacancy.
Spartans Currently Share Multiple Sports With Audubon
Along with baseball and softball, the Exira-EHK school district also shares girls basketball, boys wrestling, girls wrestling, boys tennis and girls tennis with Audubon. Petersen is proposing to the school board a share agreement for boys basketball, boys track and field, and girls track and field, in addition to the other sports.
Last fall, the Spartans went 4-5 overall, as they won 22 games over a stretch of seasons after going 0-7 in 2020. Exira-EHK was 12-1 in 2013 and had three consecutive years of at least eight wins after that.
The schools are a combination of the towns of Exira, Elk Horn and Kimballton.
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CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) – Coralville Police say a person has drowned at the Coralville Aquatic Center Tuesday afternoon.
The call went out shortly after 4 p.m. to 1513 7th Street for a drowning report.
Officers, lifeguards and paramedics gave lifesaving aid to the person. They were taken to the University of Iowa Health Care, where they were pronounced dead.
The identity of the victim has not been released. The incident is under investigation.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Iowa City Man who ran over people in homeless encampment sentenced to nearly two decades in prison
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – An Iowa City man who pleaded guilty to driving into five people at a homeless encampment last August has been sentenced to serve nearly two decades in prison.
On August 15, 2025, Roman Aguilar Ventura drove his vehicle while under the influence through an encampment near Shelter House, an organization that assists homeless people.
Ventura pleaded guilty to several charges in March, including Operating While Under the Influence, two counts of Willful Injury Resulting in Bodily Injury, and three counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. He also pleaded guilty to Driving While Barred and Driving While License Denied or Revoked.
In addition to his sentence, Ventura will also be subject to a six-year suspension of his drivers license, in addition to substance abuse treatment.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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