Caitlin Clark cuts down nets after 41-point performance in Elite 8 vs. LSU
Caitlin Clark has led Iowa to its second-straight Final Four after leading the Hawkeyes past rival LSU 94-87 in the Elite 8 on Monday.
Clark finished the game with another incredible stat line, recording 41 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds during the contest.
Fans were hoping that Clark would get to experience on more Final Four before she leaves for the WNBA at the end of the season. Now, she’s celebrating the best way possible by cutting down the nets in Albany before making the trek to Cleveland.
One season ago, it was the Hawkeyes that were forced to watch the Tigers cut down the nets at their expense after winning the national championship. This time, Clark would not be denied as her final run with Iowa continues.
Clark’s incredible scoring total, as usual, overshadowed her impressive passing display. Teammates Kate Martin and Sydney Affolter scored 21 and 16 points during the matchup, respectively. The trio of Clark, Martin and Affolter combined for 83 percent of the Hawkeyes scoring total on the night as the rest of the team combined for 16 points.
For LSU, four players finished in double figures and were led by guard Flau’jae Johnson‘s 23 points, while Angel Reese dominated the glass with 20 rebounds to go with her 17-point total. Aneesah Morrow had a 14-rebound double-double while Mikaylah Williams rounded out the group with 18 points.
During the game, Clark rewrote the history books once again by becoming the new record-holder for the most career 3-pointers made in Division I women’s basketball history.
The shot came in the third quarter of Iowa‘s Elite 8 matchup against LSU. The Hawkeye superstar came firing out of the gates in the second half and nailed a 3-point bucket midway through the third. It was good her seventh 3-pointer of the game — and the 538th of her career.
Now, Clark and the Hawkeyes will face either Paige Bueckers and UConn, or Juju Watkins and the USC Trojans in the Final Four. They’ll join South Carolina and NC State, who punched their ticket to Cleveland on Sunday.
This is the third time in program history that Iowa is headed to the Final Four, and second in two seasons thanks to Clark’s nightly heroics. While they came up just short against LSU one year ago — that loss has now been avenged after sending the Tigers back to Baton Rouge without any hardware.
Iowa’s Final Four matchup is scheduled for Friday, April 5 at 9 p.m. ET inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.