One weekend down, two to go. Georgia didn’t make things easy on Iowa, stressing the Hawkeyes for a full 40 minutes.
Ultimately, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark said the 74-66 win over the Bulldogs only benefits the Hawks as the tournament rolls along. It also exorcised some demons from the 2022 NCAA Tournament loss to No. 10 seed Creighton.
“This is sometimes the hardest to advance out of. Georgia’s a really good team. They had absolutely nothing to lose coming in here playing versus us and I thought they had an answer every single time we made a big shot or went on a run.
“And, I think that’s going to suit us well moving forward is, you know, we had that gritty win, we have that toughness, that mental toughness, but, yeah, absolutely some redemption. Yeah, it feels really good to advance out of this weekend. But, you know, I really think this team can make it to Dallas and that’s our goal and that’s our focus,” Clark said.
A Final Four trip for this squad always felt like a possibility from the onset of the season. Now, with top-seeded Stanford falling by the wayside in the Seattle 4 Region bracket, it feels suddenly more attainable.
One other good piece from the win over Georgia was it reminded Iowa that it doesn’t have to be perfect to advance in this tournament.
“Yeah, too many turnovers, and that’s what Georgia feeds off of, but I think the key there was nobody blamed each other. We had the turnover, we hustled right back onto defense. You know, we didn’t have time to argue with one another or hang our heads or say, ‘You need to do this or you need to do that.’
“It’s next play mentality. I think that speaks to being able to play with each other for three years. We don’t have time to argue about that. All we know is you can change it next play. You can’t go back in time and change what happened and I think that’s—nobody got in between our circle today and that’s what led us to this victory,” Clark said.
In a tournament where several possessions can be the difference, understanding that an early mistake along the way isn’t a death sentence is key for this team as it looks to continue advancing.
After the disappointment of last season’s tournament, advancing to Seattle and the program’s ninth Sweet 16 is a moment that should be celebrated.
Here’s a look back at Iowa’s win to advance to the Sweet 16 through some of the best pictures.