Iowa women’s basketball lost a game on Thursday, and possibly much more.
The No. 4 ranked Hawkeyes fell 84-83 to Kansas State on the road, the biggest upset in college basketball so far this season. The game came down to a final play, with Iowa having the ball and needing to score in 3.8 seconds.
The first disaster for the Hawkeyes was they didn’t score. The second one was All-American Caitlin Clark appearing to hurt her ankle and needing to be helped off the court after the final buzzer sounded.
Clark was in clear pain in the backcourt as the Hawkeyes played on, ending the game with a contested miss from All-Big Ten center Monika Czinano.
The full play:
Even putting their star’s injury aside, it was a frustrating game for Iowa. The Hawkeyes opened up a number of leads, ahead by as many as 11 points midway through the second quarter and seven points midway through the fourth, but Kansas State kept coming back.
The Wildcats got 66 of their 84 points from just three players: Serena Sundell, Gabby Gregory and Sarah Shematsi.
Clark finished the game with 27 points on 6-17 shooting with 10 rebounds and seven assists, a somewhat normal night for her. The severity of her injury remains unclear, but Iowa will obviously be holding its breath that one of the best players in all of college basketball isn’t forced to miss significant time.
Clark is coming off a sophomore season in which she averaged a Division I-leading 27.0 points and 8.0 assists, plus 8.0 rebounds per game. She received unanimous first-team All-American honors, the Big Ten Player of the Year award and the Nancy Lieberman Award as the best point guard in women’s college basketball.