There were moments where your mind couldn’t help but wander to last year’s NCAA Tournament and Iowa’s shocking 64-62 loss to end things against 10th-seeded Creighton.
After all, Iowa welcomed in another upstart No. 10 seed with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. In this go-around, the Hawkeyes made just enough plays to outlast Georgia, 74-66.
Though it was a shooting struggle all day long, Hawkeye superstar Caitlin Clark delivered when it mattered most, driving and banking home a shot to put Iowa in front 70-66 with 43.6 seconds left to play. Either assisting or scoring, Clark was responsible for 31 of Iowa’s 33 second-half points.
Clark finished with a game-high 22 points, but she connected on only 6-of-17 field goal attempts. The West Des Moines native did knock down 4-of-10 3-point tries, though.
Recognizing that her shot wasn’t falling at times, Clark turned into a distributor. She finished with 12 assists. Defensively, Clark had three thefts. As a team, Iowa forced Georgia into 18 turnovers. That included three pivotal Bulldog turnovers in the game’s final two minutes.
Early on, it was the Gabbie Marshall show. She made all four of her 3-point attempts in the second quarter and five of her first six from downtown in the game. The 5-foot-9 senior guard from Cincinnati ended with 15 points on those five made treys.
Even as Georgia’s zone defense forced 17 Iowa turnovers, the Hawkeyes never completely wavered from their intent to feed star post Monika Czinano the basketball. The 6-foot-3 big from Watertown, Minn., battled her way to 20 points and nine rebounds.
Iowa advances to the program’s ninth Sweet 16. Naturally, Hawkeye fans were over the moon. Here’s the best reactions from start to finish to Iowa’s Sweet 16-clinching victory.