The Caitlin Clark show is rolling on to the Final Four in Cleveland this weekend, as her Iowa Hawkeyes will take on Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies with a trip to the national championship game on the line. This is the first time Clark and Bueckers will meet since the Sweet 16 of their respective freshman seasons, when UConn rolled to an easy win.
Clark and the Hawkeyes got their first taste of revenge earlier this week when they took down LSU in a rematch of last season's national championship game. If they want to get even with UConn, they'll likely need another big game from Clark, who is coming off a stunning outing in the Elite Eight.
Ahead of what should be another exciting weekend of basketball, here's a look back at the five best games of Clark's NCAA Tournament career.
5. Second Round, 2021: (5) Iowa 86, (4) Kentucky 72
- 35 points, seven rebounds, seven assists on 13-of-21 from the field and 6-of-12 from 3-point land
It's not as if Clark was a nobody as a freshman, but this is the game that really put her on the map from a national perspective. She was the best player on the floor as Iowa destroyed No. 4 seed Kentucky and future WNBA No. 1 overall pick Rhyne Howard to get to the Sweet 16.
4. Sweet 16, 2024: (1) Iowa 89, (5) Colorado 68
- 29 points, six rebounds, 15 assists on 13-of-22 from the field
After surviving a scare from West Virginia in the second round, Clark and Iowa bounced back in style in the Sweet 16 of this year's tournament. In a reverse of her usual splits, Clark did most of her damage from inside the arc, as she got into the paint at will for easy buckets. The most impressive aspect of this performance, though, was her playmaking. She threw a number of brilliant passes, particularly in transition, en route to a new career-high for assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
3. Elite Eight, 2023: (2) Iowa 97, (5) Louisville 83
- 41 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 11-of-19 from the field, 8-of-14 from 3-point land
Legendary head coach C. Vivian Stringer led Iowa to its first Final Four in 1993, but it would take exactly 30 years for the Hawkeyes to get back there. Clark ensured it happened last season with an all-time effort in the Elite Eight against Louisville. She scored or assisted on 70 of the Hawkeyes' 97 points, recorded the second-highest-scoring triple-double in women's Division I history and became the first player, men or women, to have a 40-point triple-double in an NCAA Tournament game.
2. Elite Eight, 2024: (1) Iowa 94, (3) LSU 87
- 41 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, 9-of-20 from 3-point land
Clark claimed revenge wasn't on the Hawkeyes' mind when they faced LSU in Monday's rematch of last season's national championship game, but it was difficult to believe her. That was true before the game, and even more so after she put together another legacy-defining performance while Gabbie Marshall waved good-bye to Angel Reese in the closing minutes.
Clark hadn't been shooting the ball all that well in this year's tournament, but she found her shot when it mattered the most. Her series of ridiculous 3-pointers in the third quarter helped Iowa pull away, and she tied an NCAA Tournament record for 3s in a game with nine. All told, she either scored or assisted on 67 of the Hawkeyes' 94 points.
1. Final Four, 2023: (2) Iowa 77, (1) South Carolina 73
- 41 points, six rebounds, eight assists, 15-of-31 from the field
Iowa was a very good team last season, but few outside of the Hawkeye State expected them to beat South Carolina in the Final Four. The reigning champion Gamecocks, who were on a 42-game winning streak and led by future WNBA No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston, were 11.5-point favorites and marching toward another title.
Clark brought that procession to a halt. As she's done so many times in her collegiate career, she put the Hawkeyes on her back and refused to let them lose. Every single action ran through Clark, as she played 39 minutes and either scored or assisted on 58 of the Hawkeyes' 77 points. That included all 18 of their fourth-quarter points, as she came up with clutch plays time and again to hold off the Gamecocks.
Considering the opponent and the stage, this remains the best game Clark has played in her career.
