Caitlin Clark is right where she’s been all season.
ESPN ranked its top 25 players in the Sweet 16 and Clark is once again ranked No. 1.
Clark heads into the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend for a second consecutive season. The 6-foot senior superstar guard carries with her nation-best averages of 31.8 points and 8.8 assists per game.
Clark is shooting 45.6% from the floor, 37.9% from 3-point distance and 86.2% from the free throw line. She also averages 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
In Iowa’s two tourney wins over Holy Cross and West Virginia thus far, Clark has scored a combined 59 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, come away with five thefts and blocked one shot.
Here’s what ESPN had to say about Clark.
Iowa struggled with West Virginia’s defense in the second round, but that was expected. The Hawkeyes still got through to the regional semifinals, with Clark setting the Division I single-season scoring record with her 32 points Monday. She is now at 1,113 this season and 3,830 for her career. The Hawkeyes will face Colorado in the Sweet 16, the same matchup in the same round as last season. Clark had 31 points and 8 assists in beating the Buffs 87-77 in 2023. She will need a similar performance, if not more, Saturday. – Michael Voepel, ESPN.
While Clark’s numbers through the tournament’s first two rounds have been good, the scary thing for Colorado and other potential Hawkeye foes is that Clark can play so much better.
The reigning national player of the year hasn’t had that vintage scoring and assisting game yet in the tournament where it’s all working at one time.
Through Iowa’s first two tournament games, Clark is shooting below her season averages from the floor and from beyond the arc. Clark is 16-of-41 from the field (39%) and 8-of-23 (34.7%) from 3-point range in Iowa’s wins over Holy Cross and West Virginia.
Clark was Iowa’s only player ranked inside ESPN’s top 25 players in the Sweet 16.
However, several other players from the Albany 2 Region made the cut. That includes LSU forward Angel Reese at No. 8, UCLA center Lauren Betts at No. 14, LSU guard Aneesah Morrow at No. 16, UCLA guard Kiki Rice at No. 21, Colorado guard Jaylyn Sherrod at No. 22 and LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson at No. 24.
Iowa battles fifth-seeded Colorado at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC on Saturday in the Sweet 16. The winner would face the winner of No. 2 seed UCLA and No. 3 seed LSU in the Albany 2 Region final.
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