Clark’s March Madness marches on

SEATTLE, March 25, (AP): Caitlin Clark felt it was all happening a little too quick and on the stage of playing in a regional semifinal, Iowa’s star needed to slow down for a change.

In this case, slowing down led to a big second half from Clark and the Hawkeyes.

Clark scored 31 points, 18 coming in the second half, and No. 2 seed Iowa shook disappointments the past two seasons and reached the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament with an 87-77 win over Colorado in the Seattle 4 Regional semifinals on Friday night.

After two straight tournaments where Clark’s season ended in the round of 16 and the round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play for a chance at just the second Final Four berth in school history on Sunday.

Clark was the catalyst for Iowa’s big second half, and the first-team All-American finished 11 of 22 shooting with four 3-pointers and eight assists. It was her 11th game this season scoring at least 30 points.

But she had plenty of help, especially after Clark sat a chunk of the first half after picking up two fouls.

Czinano added 15 points, including a key basket in the paint with 1:10 remaining. Kate Martin scored 16 and McKenna Warnock scored 10. Iowa shot 54% for the game and 59% in the second half.

Iowa (29-6) will face No. 5 seed Louisville in the regional final on Sunday. It’s the fifth Elite Eight appearance for the Hawkeyes, but their only Final Four appearance came in 1993.

BASKETBALL

Frida Formann led Colorado (25-9) with 21 points, but 19 of those came in the first half when her shooting carried the Buffaloes. But Formann was shut down in the second half and fouled out with 6:37 remaining.

Colorado pulled within 76-70 on Quay Miller’s 3-pointer with 4:16 remaining and the deficit was down to 78-74 after Jaylyn Sherrod’s steal and layup with 1:40 left. But that was the last push by the Buffaloes as Czinano scored in the paint and Iowa made seven free throws in the final minute.

Aaronette Vonleh added 13 points and Miller had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Buffs.

Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points to help fifth-seeded Louisville beat No. 8 seed Mississippi 72-62 and advance to the final of the Seattle 4 Region.

The Cardinals (26-11) will face second-seed Iowa on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. The Hawkeyes beat Colorado 87-77, behind the play of Caitlin Clark.

It’s the fifth consecutive year that Louisville reached at least the Elite Eight. Expectations were high for the Cardinals under coach Jeff Walz to start the season as the team was ranked seventh in The Associated Press’ preseason Top 25 poll. With many new players, the Cardinals lost four out of six games in late November and early December.

Walz wasn’t concerned. The team started to get more comfortable on the court and made a run to the finals of the ACC Tournament, where they lost to Virginia Tech.

On Friday, the Cardinals were met with a stiff challenge from upstart Mississippi.

The Rebels (25-9) hadn’t advanced this far since 2007, when the team made its fifth Elite Eight in program history. They were looking to become only the second No. 8 seed to reach a regional final, joining Southwest Missouri State, which did it in 1992.

Mississippi’s defense under coach Yolett McPheeMcCuin had been so good in the first two games of the tournament, keeping both Gonzaga and No. 1 seed Stanford under 50 points in each game.

Louisville reached that mark by the end of the third quarter on Merissah Russell’s 3-pointer. That gave the Cardinals a 52-42 lead - their biggest of the game to that point. That 3 came shortly after Jones’ threepoint play extended a 46-40 lead to nine.

The Cardinals played their own stout defense for the second game in a row. The Cardinals held host Texas to 51 points in the second round.

Louisville got off to a slow start against Mississippi, but then Van Lith got them going and the Cardinals led 20-15 after one quarter. After a slow start to the second quarter that saw them give up the lead, the Cardinals still managed to hold a 34-29 advantage at the half.

They couldn’t separate themselves from the Rebels until the end of the quarter.

Ole Miss cut its deficit to 58-53 with 2:32 left before Van Lith hit a shot in the lane to stem the Rebels’ run. After Myah Taylor made the first of two free throws, Olivia Cochran had a threepoint play with 2:17 left to make it 63-54 and pretty much seal the victory.

Marquesha Davis and Taylor each scored 19 points to lead Ole Miss.