Caitlin Clark addresses controversial foul calls in national championship game

One of the biggest issues for Iowa during their loss in the national title game against LSU was foul trouble. Several key Hawkeyes missed key stretches of the matchup due to fouls that piled up.

After the game, Caitlin Clark noted the clear effect that it had on the game. She expressed regret that Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock had to watch their careers end from the sideline. Clark also expressed confusion yet acceptance of the two offensive fouls and the technical foul that she picked up during the second and third quarters.

“Obviously, foul trouble is not really what you want in a national championship game. Especially for our two seniors who have given so much to this program and had to finish their careers on the bench,” said Clark. “It’s not something they deserved by any means.”

“I thought they called it very, very tight,” Clark continued. “I don’t know about the two push-offs in the second quarter. I’m sure they saw that I pushed off and they called it and whatnot. And then hit me with the technical foul in the third for throwing the ball under the basket. Sometimes that’s how things go.”

In total, Iowa was called for 19 fouls in the game. However, 14 of them were called on Clark, Czinano, and Warnock. That led to the Hawkeye’s second and third leading scorers to play less than 25 minutes each in the national title game. Clark, considering her importance, still ended up playing 35 minutes but had to play far more passively considering the controversial technical gave her a fourth foul with over 11 minutes still left in the game.

With all that said, Clark was proud of how her team responded to the adversity of the foul trouble. Instead of hanging their heads, they continued to fight and give themselves a chance several times over the course of the second half.

“I thought all I could do is respond and come back out there and keep fighting. Keep trying to help this team crawl back into the game,” Clark said.

“I’m just proud of this group because we never gave up. We could have gone into halftime and been like what did we do? But our halftime locker room was like, ‘We’re fine. We got this, we believe in one another. We have the offensive firepower to come out here and cause some damage,'” said Clark. “I thought it showed our fight. It showed our fight on this team. And that’s what the story has been all year long. Just a bunch of fight and mental toughness.”

It was a less-than-ideal scenario for Iowa in a game that had all the stakes in the world. Still, Clark and the Hawkeyes were proud of the battle they still gave down the stretch, even though it ended in vain.