Caitlin Clark knew her shot at the buzzer was going in, even though she launched it from the Hawkeyes logo near midcourt.
So did her coach.
“Caitlin has ice in her veins,” Iowa’s Lisa Bluder said. “Everybody knows it.”
Clark proved it again with her long three-pointer as time expired, giving her 40 points and the No 4 Hawkeyes a 76-73 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night.
Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, was 14 of 34 from the field and went more than 14 minutes without a point in a stretch in the second and third quarters. The Hawkeyes were able to get her the ball in the final seconds – though a long way from the basket – as Clark took the pass from Hannah Stuelke and hit from 30 feet as the buzzer sounded.
“Honestly, when it left my hand, I knew it was going in,” Clark said.
The Hawkeyes (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to 11 games behind Clark and Stuelke, who had 15 points.
Michigan State (11-3, 1-2) had tied the game at 73 on DeeDee Hagemann’s layup with 22 seconds left. After a timeout, the Hawkeyes worked the clock down. Stuelke lost the ball momentarily, but recovered to get it to Clark.
That bobble, Clark said, might have made the difference.
“I think it almost kind of worked out in my favor, because my girl (Michigan State’s Moira Joiner) almost went for the steal a little bit,” Clark said. “I was able to get to my step-back to the left, which is my favorite shot.”
Clark hit a similar buzzer-beater against Indiana in last year’s regular-season finale. This time, she ran to the opposite end of the court with her arms outstretched as the sellout crowd celebrated.
“I almost started laughing,” Clark said. “I think everybody was like, ‘Oh, thank God, this game’s over with, we don’t have to go to overtime.’ You know, it was ugly, but it was a win, and that’s what matters at the end of the day.”
Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick said the Spartans defended the final play well.
“She made a really hard shot,” Fralick said.
Clark had 19 of Iowa’s first 33 points, but went from the six-minute mark of the second quarter to the 1:32 mark of the third without a point as the Spartans built a six-point lead with 2:23 left in the third quarter. She then scored eight points in the span of 70 seconds, and the teams were tied at 55 at the end of the quarter.
Michigan State opened the game with an 8-0 run that was answered by Iowa’s 14-0 run. The Hawkeyes built a 10-point lead late in the first quarter, but their offense struggled after that. Iowa shot just 25% in the second quarter, and the Spartans closed the half with a 9-0 run to lead 37-35.
“That second quarter was one of the worst ones I’ve seen of Iowa basketball,” Bluder said. “I was kind of frustrated we quit running our offense in the second quarter, and that allowed them to get back in the game.”
Julia Ayrault had 16 points for the Spartans. Hagemann had 14 points. Joiner and Tory Ozment each had 10 points.
