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No. 2 Indiana women's basketball loses to Iowa at buzzer on Caitlin Clark 3-pointer

tyler tachman
·3 min read
1
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) makes the game-winning 3-point basket during a NCAA Big Ten Conference women's basketball game against Indiana, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark sent a dagger into Indiana as the buzzer sounded Sunday. Down by two with time running out, Clark hit a 3-pointer to lift Hawkeyes to victory, sending the Hoosiers home in heartbreaking fashion.

The final score: Iowa 86, Indiana 85.

Indiana’s regular season is over. The Hoosiers are 26-2 overall, 16-2 in the Big Ten. They will be the No. 1 seed in this week's conference tournament.

'That was gangsta': Reaction to No. 2 IU losing to Iowa on Caitlin Clark buzzer-beater

Here are three reasons Sunday happened.

Caitlin Clark

Clark is one of the best players in women’s college basketball. On Sunday, she proved why, hitting the biggest shot of the game.

Clark finished with 34 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. She also only committed two turnovers.

It was a vastly improved performance from her last matchup against IU. In Bloomington, Clark scored 35 points, but it took 28 shots from the field to do so. In that game, she also committed eight turnovers.

3-point disparity

The 3-point line played a major factor. Indiana shot just 29.2% from 3, while Iowa shot 39.3. Indiana made seven 3s to Iowa's 11.

Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish each shot efficiently from deep but didn’t get much help. Yarden Garzon and Sara Scalia were each just 1-of-5 from deep. Grace Berger was 0-of-2.

Meanwhile, Iowa had four players hit two or more 3s. Clark wasn’t the most efficient, shooting 4-of-12, but buzzer-beater won the game.

Resilience hampered by slow start

Indiana’s extremely slow start ended up haunting them. Iowa surged to a 13-2 lead in the opening minutes.

Indiana showed admirable fight throughout. Time and time again, Iowa went on a run. Time and time again, Indiana fought back. Before Clark’s game-winner, Mackenzie Holmes hit two free throws to give Indiana the lead.

Indiana has shown redeeming intangibles this season. It was on display again on Sunday. The Hoosiers nearly picked up a seismic win on the road, but were instead sent home by Clark.

No. 6 Iowa 86, No. 2 Indiana 85

INDIANA (26-2): Holmes 8-10 5-6 21, Berger 8-15 0-0 16, Garzon 1-6 4-4 7, Moore-McNeil 6-12 4-4 18, Parrish 6-12 3-3 18, Meister 0-0 0-0 0, Sandvik 0-0 0-0 0, Scalia 2-8 0-0 5, Totals 31-63 16-17 85

IOWA (23-6): Warnock 3-7 0-0 8, Czinano 4-8 5-5 13, Clark 12-22 6-8 34, Marshall 3-5 0-0 8, Martin 6-9 4-5 19, Stuelke 1-2 0-2 2, Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Affolter 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 30-58 15-20 86

Indiana 18 21 19 27 — 85

Iowa 23 17 21 25 — 86

3-Point Goals—Indiana 7-24 (Berger 0-2, Garzon 1-5, Moore-McNeil 2-5, Parrish 3-7, Scalia 1-5), Iowa 11-28 (Warnock 2-5, Clark 4-12, Marshall 2-4, Martin 3-4, Davis 0-1, Affolter 0-2). Assists_Indiana 17 (Berger 8), Iowa 18 (Clark 9). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 36 (Garzon 14), Iowa 28 (Clark 9, Czinano 9). Total Fouls_Indiana 16, Iowa 17. Technical Fouls_None. A_15,056.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women's basketball loses to Iowa at buzzer on Caitlin Clark 3