CLEVELAND − From the beginning of this incredible Iowa women’s basketball season, there has always been an intense curiosity about how the career of the greatest player to ever wear a Hawkeye uniform would end.
Would Caitlin Clark go to the WNBA or stay in school for one more year? Could she reach impossibly big expectations after taking Iowa to the NCAA national title game as a junior? How would her final moments, surely in front of one more raucous sellout crowd and a wildly entertained nation, wearing an Iowa jersey unfold?
Well, we have reached the end. And we have our final answer.
Clark ended her generational college career in the last moments of the last game of the 2023-24 women’s season. But for the second straight year, she and the Hawkeyes finished one spot shy of the ultimate prize.
South Carolina’s juggernaut roster and deep waves of talent overwhelmed the Hawkeyes, who even with one more 30-point performance from Clark didn’t have enough. The Gamecocks are your NCAA Tournament champions after posting Sunday’s 87-75 victory.
Clark, like she did from Day 1 in a Hawkeye uniform, gave everything she had and gave Iowa a chance to compete for even the biggest prizes, which was previously unthinkable. Iowa came out on the court Sunday and believed it could take down a roster loaded with future WNBA talent. Why?
“We have Caitlin Clark,” junior Sydney Affolter said. “She’s obviously the greatest player of all-time.”
Iowa came out firing with a 10-0 haymaker out of the gate and led, 20-9, in the first 4½ minutes.
