Caitlin Clark’s stunning buzzer-beater on Sunday capped off a thrilling battle between No. 6 Iowa and No. 2 Indiana, as the Hawkeyes pulled off the 86-85 victory. With just 1.5 seconds left in the game, Clark caught an inbound pass and sank her off-balance 3-pointer over Indiana’s Chloe Moore-McNeil to seal the win — and send Iowa fans into a frenzy.
Clark, the national Player of the Year candidate, had an incredible performance in the win. She shot 12-of-22 from the field to finish with 34 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. The junior entered Sunday averaging 27 points, 7.4 rebounds and a NCAA-best 8.1 assists per game.
The buzzer-beater came after what was a very late foul call on the other end, which put Indiana in position to grab the win. Indiana forward Mackenzie Holmes, who had a team-high 21 points on the day, drew a foul in the post and sank a pair of free throws that put the Hoosiers up by two points before the final play.
Moore-Mitchell added 18 points for Indiana, and guard Sydney Parrish added 18 points and five rebounds. Grace Berger finished with 16 points and eight assists. The loss marked just Indiana’s second on the season, following a five-point loss to Michigan State in December. The Hoosiers, who had already claimed the Big Ten regular season title, will still take the top-seed into the conference tournament next week.
Kate Martin added 19 points for Iowa after shooting 6-of-9 from the field. Forward Monika Czinano finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Clark scored or assisted on 56 of Iowa’s 86 points — which was the most Indiana has given up all season — in the win. The Hawkeyes ended the regular season having won 12 of their last 14 games, and will enter the Big Ten tournament next week in Minneapolis as the No. 3 seed.
Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beater was an incredible finish to an incredible game between two of the top teams in the nation. The win gave Iowa the momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament, and will certainly be remembered as one of the most memorable moments of the college basketball season.
