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.