Iowa’s Caitlin Clark describes her emotions at ‘Crossover at Kinnick’
From shooting in the wind to the Kid Captain and waving to the Children’s Hospital, Caitlin Clark speaks after her triple-double at Kinnick Stadium.
IOWA CITY — Caitlin Clark grabbed the outlet pass in perfect stride, her bright green kicks illuminating unprecedented stardom for those sitting close and far away from Sunday’s action. Everyone jammed inside Kinnick Stadium knew what was coming next.
Two dribbles, then a heave, then the noise.
A single-game women’s basketball record 55,646 fans erupted in unison as Clark’s first trey of the day splashed home, one of the countless memorable scenes from Sunday’s Crossover at Kinnick affair. Clark eventually delivered a fitting triple-double, punctuating Iowa’s 94-72 scrimmage win over DePaul to kick off this national championship encore.
“She’s such an electrifying player,” said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, still beaming with admiration in the postgame press conference. “What can she not do? She has a triple-double outside in a football stadium. She’s special.”
In her first on-court action since falling to LSU in the NCAA final in Dallas, Clark shrugged off any unusual weather elements to deliver a performance that’s become routine. A noticeable wind made 3-pointers difficult in general, so Clark just sliced up DePaul with drives and mid-ranges the way she has so many other foes. She finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting 13-for-26 from the field.
That first electrifying 3-pointer didn’t arrive until just under six minutes remaining in the second quarter, yet Clark was already on her way to an emphatic day before then. She added sharing to the scoring, too, with several of her assists going to cutting posts wide open under the basket.
Leistikow: A day of women’s basketball to remember at Kinnick Stadium
“She gets in these moments that you know is going to light a fire under her,” fifth-year senior Gabbie Marshall said. “You know she’s about to go off and go crazy. The crowd knew it. We knew it. It was loud. It was loud, for sure.
“It’s nothing new. She does it all the time.”
And don’t tell Clark this game didn’t count. The miscues she did have — six turnovers and five missed free throws — put frustration on her face that had zero exhibition feel. Expect nothing less from the sport’s top performer.
“It’s hard to really wrap your head around everything that’s happening,” Clark said. “You can imagine it, but it’s never the same until you’re in the actual experience — enjoying it and living it.
“Our team was kind of giddy getting ready to walk down the tunnel. We understand this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Elsewhere on the court, Iowa picked up solid efforts from reserves Sharon Goodman, Addison O’Grady (10 points, 14 rebounds) and Molly Davis (13 points) — three pivotal pieces outside the main group of Clark, Marshall and Kate Martin who will have a large hand in where this Iowa team goes. The Hawkeyes went 10 deep in the opening quarter and will likely use some of season’s early portion to solidify their rotation moving forward.
“Seeing how we played against DePaul, I don’t think that’s going to be the same team in March or whatever,” said sixth-year guard Martin, who added 11 points and eight rebounds. “It’s a great starting point, and I’m happy we got the win in front of all those fans. We treated it like a real game obviously, and it’s exciting to kick off basketball season.”
Kate Martin couldn’t believe “I-O-W-A!” chants at Kinnick Stadium
Sixth-year senior Kate Martin revisits the sights and sounds of the day at Kinnick Stadium, where 55,646 fans watched women’s basketball Sunday.
One way or another, though, it always comes back to Clark. Even with the Hawkeyes’ second-half cushion not dipping below double digits, she played deep into the fourth quarter to ensure nothing funky happened. The one push DePaul did make — a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter that trimmed the deficit from 26 to 11 — Clark ended any loose concern with a fastbreak layup and an an assist on Marshall’s lone trey of the day.
Ahead of a season that’ll be chock full of raucous environments and pressure-packed situations, Sunday’s grand event was the perfect preseason stage for Clark and her teammates.
“Just a special experience,” Clark said. “The amount of people screaming for us kind of takes your breath away for a moment.”
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
