Caitlin Clark's three-pointer at the buzzer lifts Iowa past #2 Indiana

It was a storybook leadup. College Gameday in the morning, sold out crowd and an instant classic game against second ranked Indiana in the afternoon. When Caitlin Clark came off two screens and let a final three-point shot go at the buzzer, it almost felt like it had to go in. It did. And then chaos ensued. The crowd went nuts, the bench stormed the floor and Caitlin Clark took off through the photographers on the baseline and nearly into the crowd.

“She’s fast. She’s hard to catch up with,” said McKenna Warnock.

“I just ran,” said Clark. “I just kind of ran into the crowd and was just getting everybody hyped and then got tackled by my teammates. It was pretty awesome.”

As for head coach Lisa Bluder, she just sat back in her seat after the shot went in.

“I think I said a quick thank you to God,” said Bluder. “It was one of those things that you dream about. That’s truly what dreams are made of and I’m just so thankful. The people were here and it was on a national stage for these women.”

OH MY GOD!! THE BUZZER BEATER 3 BY CC!!!!@CaitlinClark22 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/IEAohn8ZbF

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) February 26, 2023

The play call brought Caitlin Clark off screens from McKenna Warnock and Monika Czinano. The second screen from Czinano gave Clark seperation from Indiana’s Chloe Moore-McNeil. Lisa Bluder says it was a play call that they have rehersed in practice before and they actually stole it from the WNBA Las Vegas Aces. The moment and the shot going in, is not something that can be replicated, but as a young kid, you can try your best in the backyard.

“Those are situations I would put myself in with my two brothers out in the driveway,” said Clark. “That’s still what I do when I come in the gym and shoot by myself. Those are the situations you dream up and want to be in. I’m lucky enough to be able to do it for this team and in front of 15,000 people.”

Clark finished with 34 points on 12/22 shooting, as well as nine rebounds and nine assists. She also limited herself to just two turnovers, which was a big change from the last matchup, where she had eight.

The shot and the ending overshadows just how good of a game took place though. It was exactly what you would expect for a game between two top six teams in the country and the top two teams in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes got the sellout crowd of 15,056 on their feet real quick with a 10-2 run to open the game. Caitlin Clark found Kate Martin in transition and she buried it. Indiana head coach Teri Moren was forced to take a timeout just 2:03 into the game.

The Hoosiers cut the lead to 13-8, but Iowa responded with a short 6-0 run capped by a Kate Martin basket, plus the foul to put the Hawkeyes up 19-8.

“I thought we came out and we made a statement early on the offensive side of things and really the defensive side too,” said Lisa Bluder. “I think it was kind of an awakening for Indiana, that we’re here. We told the team, we can’t be Big Ten champs, but we can beat the Big Ten champs.”

Indiana battled back, as you would expect from a 26-1 team. Grace Berger led the Hoosiers with ten first half points, but it was a Caitlin Clark basket late in the half that gave Iowa a 40-39 lead going into the locker room. Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin combined for 29 of the Hawkeyes 40 first half points.

The Hawkeyes opened their lead to as large as nine midway through the third quarter, but 7-2 run from Indiana to end the quarter had things shaping up for a fun finish. A Gabbie Marshall three-pointer put Iowa up 66-60, but Sydney Parrish answered with her own from long distance. A couple minutes later, Parrish knocked down another three ball. That one gave the Hoosiers a 70-68 lead and Lisa Bluder took a timeout to calm things down.

“It was trying to break the momentum up a little bit,” said Bluder. “We changed up our defense and we kind of just stressed again what we wanted to try to achieve on offense.”

Out of the timeout, Gabbie Marshall hit a three-pointer and it sparked an 8-0 Iowa run that was capped by a Molly Davis steal and layup. Indiana did not flinch down 76-70. They battled back and a Mackenzie Holmes basket, plus the foul tied things at 79 with 2:17 to play.

Cziano and Holmes traded baskets with under a two minutes to play, then the teams traded a pair of free throw makes with under a minute to play. Iowa had the ball with 34.9 to play and a chance to hold for the nearly the last shot. With five seconds to play, Monika Czinano’s shot fell off the rim and Yarden Garzon pulled down the rebound.

On the Hoosiers end, Mackenzie Holmes was fouled with 0.8 to play. Lisa Bluder pleaded to the officials for a travel call, but that didn’t change. She also asked for them to look at the clock. They added time to give the Hawkeyes 1.5 seconds after two Holmes free throw makes.

That time changed proved to be a game-changer. Clark came off the screens, let the shot go and the rest is history. Iowa 86, Indiana 85.

“We went to K-State earlier this year and we kind of had a similar situation where we figured out after we watched the film that we should have had more time at the end of the game,” said Caitlin Clark. “I knew to go tell the ref you have to go look and see if the time is right.”

After a tough game in the first matchup in Bloomington, Monika Czinano responded with 13 points and nine rebounds. Mackenzie Holmes scored 21 points on 8/10 shooting, but she turned it over four times. Czinano said she put together a better game today.

“I’m really proud of my defense, the way I played today. I think we did a really great job of doubling and knowing when to double and who we can double off of, which is all matchups that Coach Bluder gives us.”

Kate Martin was a big spark with 13 first half points. She finished with 19 points, 3 three-pointers and four assists. Martin had a team-leading +12 +/- for the game. McKenna Warnock and Gabbie Marshall each had eight points and a pair of three-pointers.

What they did well…

1. Limited turnovers. Iowa turned it over 18 times in the first matchup in Bloomington and it led to 24 Indiana points. Today, the Hawkeyes turned the ball over just seven times. It led to just six points for the Hoosiers. On the other end, Iowa only forced eight turnovers, but made Indiana pay, as they turned it into 15 points.

2. Defended the three-point line. The Hawkeyes have defended the three-point well for the most part this season, but that went by the wayside in their last game against Maryland. Today, they held Indiana to 7/24 (29.2%) from behind the arc, while Yarden Garzon was just 1/5, despite shooting nearly 50% from three-point range this season.

Up Next for the Hawkeyes…

With the win, Iowa moves to 23-6 on the season and they finish with a 15-3 record in Big Ten play. Up next, the Hawkeyes will head to the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. Iowa earned the double-bye as the two seed in the tournament and will face the winner of Purdue/Wisconsin on Friday evening. Tipoff is set for 5:30pm and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.