SEATTLE — Caitlin Clark put on quite a show Sunday night in the Elite Eight, with one of the greatest individual performances in NCAA tournament history helping the Iowa women’s basketball program go further than it’s been in three decades.
The 6-foot junior had 41 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds and three steals to lead the second-seeded Hawkeyes to a 97-83 win over No. 5 Louisville in the Seattle 4 Region final and send the program to the national semifinals for the first time since 1993.
“I dreamed of this moment as a little girl, to take a team to the Final Four and be in these moments and have confetti fall down on me,” said Clark, an Iowa native.
The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas, where they’ll play Friday against Monday’s Greenville 1 Region Final between No. 2 seed Maryland and undefeated South Carolina, the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed and the reigning champion.
“I thought our team played really well. That’s what it’s all about. I was going to give it every single thing I had,” said Clark, who was the region’s most outstanding player. “When I came here I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, and all you’ve got to do is dream. And all you’ve got to do is believe and work your butt off to get there. That’s what I did, and that’s what our girls did and that’s what our coaches did and we’re going to Dallas, baby.”