Iowa women play at Nebraska Sunday with Caitlin Clark 39 points from making history
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team plays at Nebraska Sunday, and while it’s an important road game for the Big Ten-leading Hawkeyes all eyes will be fixed on the scoreboard at Pinnacle Bank arena and specifically on what Iowa’s No. 22 is doing.
It’s hard to remember a crucial conference road game in February against an upper division foe and geographic rival being an afterthought, but for a large portion of the audience it will be. The number those folks will be looking for is 39. When Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scores 39 points she will eclipse the NCAA career scoring record held by WNBA star Kelsey Plum, who once shot the lights out in relative obscurity at the University of Washington.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said she’d prefer the record not come in Lincoln.
“I would rather have her break it at home just because I think our Carver-Hawkeye fans deserve that,” she said. “But believe me, our No. 1 priority will be to win the game at Nebraska.”
As probably most Hawk fans can tell you, Iowa’s next game after Nebraska is home against Michigan on Thursday.
“She’s the best player in college basketball right now,” Iowa junior Sydney Affolter said. “But that’s not a focus for our team, and Caitlin’s not talking about it. We’re talking about winning and how we can improve each and every day.”
Clark is averaging 32.2 points per game. She averages .477 from the field, .396 from 3-point range and .861 from the free-throw line. She averages seven rebounds per game, second only to Hannah Stuelke. She’s a human highlight reel and has led this team to a 22-2, 11-1 record and No. 2 ranking.
Unlike some senior students at her university, she has not just mailed it in. She is determined to take this team as far as her many talents can take it. But face it, it can’t be easy to have so many eyes on you every time you take the court with people in the stands calculating your progress toward a national record.
“Honestly I don’t feel that much pressure,” Clark said. “I feel like at this point it’s kind of when it’s going to happen rather than me chasing it down. It’s going to come with whatever we need that night. My main focus is on winning and having fun and enjoying these environments because it’s so special. I don’t ever want to take it for granted. I’ve been able to find a lot of calmness and peace in that.
“It wasn’t always that way in my career. Earlier in my career I would get nervous for these types of games. I feel like my maturity has just grown a lot, and I can impact the game whether shots are not falling or are falling. I’m just trying to enjoy every single second because I can’t believe it’s February.”
One of the reasons this 21st Century phenomenon of over-the-top mainstream and social media hasn’t had as much effect on Clark is that she’s embracing it.
“This is the time of her life,” Bluder said. “She’s enjoying every minute of it. There’s no burden with Caitlin. She’s just busting it down. She’s having fun, and I credit her maturity so much for that.”
February is crunch time for teams in pursuit of conference championships and top NCAA Tournament seeds. It is not surprising that Clark sees over the immediate minutiae and has a long view.
“I feel like the games we have in front of us going forward are really tough games,” she said. “Every single place we play everybody gives us their best shot. They take their game to a whole other level. We’ve got to come and be ready to play so that’s where my main focus resides.”
She’s clearly proud of where the team has come after losing long-time, productive starters Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock. Her teammates are, in turn, proud of how Clark has dealt with the circus atmosphere surrounding the team.
“The attention our program has gotten, Caitlin handles it really well,” Iowa fifth-year Gabbie Marshall said. “She has so many media obligations, and you’re in season, so just being a student athlete on top of all the media stuff she has to do, it’s a lot of pressure. But I think she handles it really well, and she leans on us, she leans on the coaches. I mean, it’s awesome, but it can be a little stressful and tiring at times.”
The Nebraska game is at noon Sunday and will be shown on Fox. Iowa won the earlier game 92-73.