Iowa's Clark sets Big Ten tournament scoring mark

MINNEAPOLIS — When it comes to the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament, Iowa‘s Caitlin Clark has maximized her opportunities. Sunday will mark her fourth Big Ten championship game, part of why she has become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer.

Clark nabbed that mark — yet another in her record-setting senior season — in Saturday’s semifinals as No. 2 seed Iowa beat No. 6 Michigan 95-68. With her 28 points, Clark has 293 (and counting) in the Big Ten tournament for her career. She also became the first Division I women’s player to score at least 1,000 points in multiple seasons.

She now has 1,020 points so far this season; she had 1,055 as a junior. Clark is 90 points from breaking the NCAA single-season scoring record of 1,109 set by Washington’s Kelsey Plum in 2016-17. Clark already broke Plum’s NCAA career scoring record — that came in the Hawkeyes’ regular-season win over Michigan on Feb. 15.

“Yeah, we were the lucky ones that got to be at Iowa when Caitlin broke the record, so we kind of were in the same environment today,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico ruefully said of the sold-out Target Center crowd of mostly Iowa fans Saturday. “Any time they made a run, the place erupted, or any time there was a big play, the place erupted.”

There were plenty of both for Iowa (28-4), which will face No. 5 seed Nebraska for the championship. Iowa is going for its sixth overall Big Ten tournament title and third in a row. The Hawkeyes lost to Maryland in the title game in Clark’s freshman season but have defeated Indiana and Ohio State in the past two championship games.

Nebraska (22-10) beat No. 8 seed Maryland 78-68 in Saturday’s first semifinal. The Huskers, who joined the league in 2011-12, were Big Ten tournament runners-up that season and won the title in 2014. This year, the Hawkeyes and Huskers split their regular-season games, each winning on their home court.

“I would expect them to box-and-one us tomorrow,” Clark said of the defensive tactic the Huskers used to success in the fourth quarter of their comeback 82-79 win over Iowa on Feb. 11. “That’s something we worked on every single practice since that game.”

That said, it won’t be easy to just key in on Clark; her teammates have combined for 20 3-pointers in Iowa’s two games here in Minneapolis. Still, as she always is, Clark will be the biggest concern for Nebraska’s defense.

Clark’s Big Ten tournament scoring record passed the 265 points of former Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell, who will be Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate this WNBA season if they take her with the No. 1 pick as expected.

“This offense is like perfectly suited for my game,” Clark said of playing for Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. “She lets me be me, and it’s been the same way for four years. But I’ve had a lot of really good teammates that have allowed me to be me, too.

“Obviously breaking the Big Ten record is something that’s really hard to do. These games are never guaranteed. You can come here and just play one game, and it can be over. I’m really grateful to play the maximum number of games every season I’ve had of this tournament. That is probably the only reason I have this record.”

Clark also had 15 assists on Saturday. She already set the Big Ten tournament career assist record last year with 78 over three seasons. This year, she increased her total to 100 — the most assists by any women’s player in any conference tournament over the past 25 seasons.

Also during that 25-season span, there have been two instances of a Division I player getting at least 25 points and 15 assists in a conference tournament game. Both were by Clark: Saturday and in last season’s Big Ten final against Ohio State.

“She can score the basketball better than anybody, but she can pass the basketball better than anybody,” Barnes Arico said. “I think that’s what makes her so special.

“You try to keep the ball out of her hands because she’s such a great decision-maker. But she’s tough to guard. I don’t know if anybody’s figured it out.”