LINCOLN, Neb. — Tickets sold out six weeks ago, and fans started lining up six hours before tipoff. Nebraska, like the rest of Big Ten country, was ready for the moment when Caitlin Clark came to town. And with 39 points separating her and the top spot in Division I scoring, 15,042 spectators filled the arena. They did not just expect a show but history, too.
Instead, they got a game and one hell of a finish.
The Cornhuskers turned around their 14-point fourth-quarter deficit by throwing a box-and-1 defense at Clark and No. 2 Iowa, and with the Hawkeyes unable to respond, Clark went from sharpshooter to non-scorer, putting the individual scoring record out of reach and the game in flux. As much of the season (and past four years in Iowa City) has gone, as Clark goes, so too does Iowa.
Nebraska’s 27-10 final quarter was punctuated with a Jaz Shelley triple to give the home team its first lead of the game. It was the kind of heroics we’re all too accustomed to seeing from Clark.
So, on the other end, when Clark launched her own potentially score-tying 3 from the left wing with nine seconds remaining — even amid her mini shooting slump — the entire arena rose and held its breath. She needed 39 points Sunday to eclipse Kelsey Plum’s NCAA women’s basketball career…
