SEATTLE — For 40 minutes on Sunday night, Caitlin Clark put on one of college basketball’s all-time great performances: a 41-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double, the first time such a stat-line had ever been recorded in an NCAA Tournament game. But it was not any one of Clark’s magnificent shots or breathtaking passes which her mother Anne will remember most from No. 2 seed Iowa’s 97–83 victory over fifth-seeded Louisville. The most memorable scene for Anne came minutes into the Hawkeyes’ celebration when her 21-year-old daughter scurried up to the stands and handed the game ball to her family. “Don’t let anyone take it if they try,” Caitlin told her younger brother, Colin.
Clark had ensured the ball ended up in her arms as the final buzzer sounded, with the Hawkeyes having punched a ticket to their first Final Four since 1993. She checked out of the game with 22.7 seconds to play, letting out a massive fist-pump and twice raising up her right arm to hype the crowd as she walked off. To retrieve the basketball, Clark burst onto the court in one final sprint. She darted over to senior guard Molly Davis, who dribbled out the clock. Once Clark had the ball in her hands, she cradled it, turned around and joined her teammates in a joyful mob.
Against the…
