Caitlin Clark Starts Slow, But Finishes Mrs. Clutch For Big Ten Tourney Title

Caitlin Clark did not break another man's NCAA record on Sunday, which is a news flash.

She also started slowly, but as usual finished as Mrs. Clutch to lead No. 3 Iowa over Nebraska, 94-89, in overtime for the Hawkeyes' third straight women's Big Ten Tournament championship Sunday afternoon in front of 18,534 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Next for Iowa (29-4) is NCAA Tournament and an expected No. 1 seed after a week off.

"Our first half wasn't the best, but you just have to figure it out," said Clark, who scored 30 of her game-high 34 points after halftime.

Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past Nebraska's Callin Hake during the Big Ten Tournament championship game at the Target Center on Sunday in Minneapolis. (USA TODAY).

Clark scored just two points in the first quarter on 1-of-8 shooting after missing all six of her three-point attempts, and No. 5 seed Nebraska led, 23-17. She was 0-for-9 from 3-point range at the half and 2 of 13 for four points at halftime as the Cornhuskers (22-11) led 46-35. No. 2 seed Iowa trailed by as many as 13 in the opening half.

Iowa And Caitlin Clark Came Back From ‘Smoke’

"We went through the smoke out there today, baby," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "I'm so proud of our perseverance."

Clark finished 12 of 29 from the field, recovered to hit 5 of 17 from 3-point range and dished 12 assists while grabbing seven rebounds and three steals around seven turnovers in 44 minutes. She scored 15 points with a trio of threes in the fourth quarter that ended at 77-77.

"Come on! Five more minutes," Clark yelled to the mostly Iowa fans-filled Target Center as overtime began.

Then she delivered the dagger - a 3-pointer for an 89-87 lead with 51 seconds to go in overtime. That was just seconds after Logan Nissley's 3-pointer put Nebraska up 87-86.

"It's really special," Clark said of Iowa's third-straight Big Ten Tournament title and her third straight MVP. "It was definitely the hardest one. The fans were incredible. Don't know if we would've done it without them."

The game featured 16 lead changes, and Iowa led for only 2:20 of the 45-minute game.

Caitlin Clark's And Iowa's Fans Traveled Well

Iowa fans near campus in Iowa City traveled five hours to Minneapolis for the fourth-year senior Clark's last game before the NCAA Tournament. She recently announced she will skip her COVID fifth season to enter the WNBA Draft on April 15. One fan brought a sign for Nebraska - "Iowa Has Better Corn."

The win avenged an 82-79 loss at Nebraska on Feb. 11.

"These fans are absolutely amazing," Bluder said.

And so remains Caitlin Clark.

Caitlin Clark concluded a momentous eight days that started with her breaking Pete Maravich's scoring record last Sunday. (Getty Images).

Nicknamed "Ponytail Pete" as a child, Clark last Sunday broke Pistol Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA Division I career scoring record of 3,667 points set in three seasons at LSU. She is at 3,737 points. On Friday in the Big Ten Tournament, she hit her 163rd 3-pointer of the season, breaking the NCAA mark of 162 set by Steph Curry in the 2007-08 season at Davidson.

Clark again did not do it alone, though.

Hannah Stuelke added 25 points and nine rebounds for Iowa after shaking off an ankle injury suffered Saturday in a semifinal win over Michigan. Kate Martin scored 13 with seven boards, and Sydney Affolter had 11 with 11 rebounds.