Caitlin Clark Deserves to be Back in the Final Four

If you didn’t watch the Caitlin Clark Show Monday night when Iowa beat defending national champion LSU 94-87 in a rematch of last year’s national title game it was your loss.

Clark is dynamic and destined to be remembered as one of the very best ever to play women’s college basketball. With a national TV audience watching and LSU knowing it had to stop her, Clark was magnificent. She scored or assisted on 25 of Iowa’s 32 field goals and finished with 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

With all eyes on her, she came within three rebounds of a triple-double in an Elite Eight matchup against the defending national champion.

Now she’ll get another chance to showcase her talent Friday when Iowa plays UConn in the Final Four.

Here is part of what Clark said after the game:

Q. Caitlin, to get back to the Final Four again, to beat the team that knocked you out last year, what does it mean to have Iowa playing for a National Championship?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, like you said, I feel like it’s amazing to be back in the Final Four. It’s so hard to get there, especially with this region and how loaded this region was. We told ourselves we’re the 1 seed for a reason. We’ve earned this. We deserve to be in these moments. We’re prepared for these moments.
I think we came out here and our second and third quarters we played really good basketball. And LSU is a really good team. They’re hard to guard. They’re such good one-on-one players. They break you down. They make tough shots. They killed us on the glass.
But we were just resilient. We never hung our head when things didn’t go our way, and that can get you a long way. I’m just proud of this group to go back to the Final Four. You enjoy this and then you get to Cleveland and you start prepping for your next game. We want to win two more, and I think we have the power to do that.

Q. For the players, was revenge on your mind coming into this game for what happened last year?

CAITLIN CLARK: To be honest, no. I feel like we prepared for this game. We focus on Iowa, we do what Iowa does, and we’ll come out on top. And that was kind of Coach Bluder’s message. It’s not about last year. You worry too much about the past, you’re going to get caught up in that. It’s about being present, being where your feet are.
Don’t worry about being in the Final Four, be in this moment, be in the Elite 8, enjoy that and soak that in. That’s what’s going to allow you to win 40 minutes, and that’s exactly what we did. I thought we just played a really good basketball game. When they went on their runs, we always had an answer, and that’s all you can ask of your team.

Q. Caitlin, after your freshman year, the loss to UConn, you said something in the press conference then about I wanted to get to a Final Four; I didn’t say it was going to be my freshman year. Thinking back then, what was missing in you and that team to make that step, and what is it that you guys have now that you were able to do it twice?

CAITLIN CLARK: Honestly, I feel like — well, first of all, we were a young team. We had no experience. Playing with a young point guard, like I was a freshman, and I think the biggest thing has just been my maturity and being able to move on from things when it doesn’t go my way.
I feel like that’s what I’m the most proud of over the course of these last two games, just being calm, cool, collected and dialed in to what we need to do. I’m not worried about what the other team is doing. I’m not worried about what call the ref is making. I’m worried about Iowa needs.
When I’m able to do that, I feel like that helps my teammates a lot, and I feel like that’s the biggest way that I’ve grown over the last two years. I’m not sure I really did that my sophomore year. And I’ve always had the basketball skill, it’s just been my mind, making my mind better. Lucky enough I’ve had really good teammates that have held me accountable and also been my biggest fans and been there to support me the entire way.

Q. Caitlin, you had kind of a no-lose proposition here. Either you were going to go to Cleveland for the Final Four or you were going to try out for the Olympic team. How much greater is this than that would have been?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, that’s tough. Obviously the Olympics are always your dream, but to be here with this team and to be able to do what we’ve done and to extend that out another week is all I could have really asked. That’s all I wanted is to win this game tonight and be going back to Cleveland with the people I love and get to play for Iowa that’s across my chest every single time. For me, it was like a win-win, I guess. I don’t know, but more than anything, my focus is 100 percent on making Iowa really good, and not really too focused on all that other stuff. I know that’ll be there when my career ends, and hopefully that’s with a win.

Q. Caitlin, were you surprised that Flau’jae — you didn’t get more reps against her defending you? Seemed like her length was a little bit of an issue later in the game.

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was too much of an issue. Honestly, no matter what they threw at me, I thought we always had a good answer.
I think our goal coming into this game was to set a ton of ball screens. And that’s exactly what we did. I think they started showing late at the end of the game, which can sometimes be a little bit better on me rather than drop coverage. But coming into this game I did expect her to guard me. I will say that.
But at the same time, every team we play throws multiple defenders at us. I don’t see one person for 40 minutes. And that’s what they did. They brought somebody in off the bench that guarded me too. She guarded me a little bit.
But also you don’t want some of your best players to get in foul trouble. So I don’t know if that was the reasoning behind it. But coming into this game I think that’s what I was more prepared for. But you don’t get to know what the other team is going to do.

Q. At the end of the fourth quarter, I think there was about five minutes left, you hit a three and pounded your chest and looked at the crowd. What was going through your head in that moment?

CAITLIN CLARK: I think I just got hyped for a second, honestly. I was trying to be pretty calm and cool. Like, when you’re playing a team like LSU, like they’re never out of the game. No matter what the time and score is. That’s what I told our girls. I think there was 4:45 on the clock, and we were up 11. I was like, Do not start celebrating. Do not start getting too emotional. This game is not over. They’re going to fight until the end.
And that’s exactly what they did. But sometimes you get a little hype for yourself and you do things that you don’t even realize you’re doing. I think that was the only three I celebrated.

Q. The three-point percentage has been a little lower during the postseason, but tonight, nine, which ties an NCAA Tournament record, single game. You also passed Diana Taurasi for most threes in the NCAA Tournament. Were you really feeling it from three-point range, and how big that was, especially in the third quarter?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, I think for myself I probably haven’t been shooting it as good from three over the course of the last five or so games. But even if you told me that, I would still have 110 percent belief in myself and what I’ve been able to do this year.
To me, everything averages out over the course of the year. I’ve had games where I’ve been 2 for 16. I’ve had games where I’ve been 9 of 15. It all averages out.
I think that just speaks to the confidence I have in myself and the time I’ve put in the gym. I know I’m ready for this moment. I thought my shot felt good in warmups. And it certainly helps when you make your first three as a shooter when you can see the ball go in. I think I was 2 of my first 3, and then I made my first to start the second half. And that certainly helped, too. I thought I got some good looks off the dribble, and I’m really comfortable shooting off the dribble. That’s what I prefer rather than catch and shoot.
It was nice to have a game where I got some good looks at three for sure.

Q. Caitlin, there was a lot of anticipation around this game, in part because of the matchup, but I know you guys are obviously in a win-or-go-home situation, but what did it feel like to be on that court tonight and knowing how many people cared and were going to be paying attention?

CAITLIN CLARK: To be honest, when you step on the court and you’re a competitor, you don’t feel that. You’re there competing. It’s five v. five. There could have been nobody in the gym, and both teams would have competed the exact same way.
Yeah, you’re playing for a little more with the Final Four on the line, but to me I’m not thinking, oh, my God, there’s 15 million people at home watching this game right now. Like no, that’s not what’s happening. It’s like, what can I do for my team to help me win the game right now?
That’s what’s going through your mind. If you’re not worried about everything else, you’re not going to be successful. You’ve got to be completely locked in on what’s happening between the lines. And I thought our team did a really good job of that. It wasn’t so-and-so made a bad call, it wasn’t like, oh, my God, they’ve made three shots in a row. It was all about us and what we need to do. And I think that’s one of the reasons we won the game, honestly.