CLEVELAND — With 41 seconds left on the clock and her team technically on defense, Caitlin Clark knew it was over.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder knew it, too, which might have been why after initially being upset that none of her players were even attempting to guard South Carolina, she let it go.
Clark stared into space, the final seconds of one of the greatest collegiate careers in basketball ticking down as South Carolina willingly took a shot clock violation, up 87-75 in Sunday’s national championship game.
Twenty seconds later, Bluder subbed out her famous No. 22 for the final time. “I’m proud of you,” she told her superstar. And one by one, Clark hugged her coaches and teammates — one of the harder moments for her Sunday, she’d later say — as she prepared to walk into the Iowa locker room with the Hawkeyes one last time.
“I’m so lucky,” Clark said after Iowa fell to the Gamecocks, finishing as the runner-up for the second consecutive season. “I’m so fortunate. That’s what I always remind myself.”
Caitlin Clark with one final goodbye for Iowa 💛 🖤
(📸 @CaitlinClark22/IG) pic.twitter.com/apbI5AOwBt
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 7, 2024
In the next 48 hours, the emotions will come, Clark figures. There will be tears. By then she’ll be…
