IOWA CITY, Iowa — On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, most of Iowa‘s students had gone home for the holiday break. And yet more than two hours before tipoff of the women’s basketball game against Washington State, the line at the gates of Carver-Hawkeye Arena was already spilling into the hundreds.
Trenton Mendoza and his 9-year-old daughter, Riley, were among those who arrived early. The Mendozas live in Atlanta but were in Iowa to visit family for the week. During the past couple of seasons, Riley fell in love with Caitlin Clark‘s patented step-back 3-pointers. So the day before, Trenton surprised Riley with tickets.
“We were watching the [Hawkeyes] before bed one night,” Trenton said. “[Riley] rolls over and says, ‘Dad, we’re going to be in Iowa. What if the girls are playing while we’re there? We’ve got to go!’ I already had the tickets. It was hard not to say anything and keep the surprise.”
Clark has moved on — she was drafted by the Indiana Fever in April — but it was at Carver-Hawkeye that she…
