BLINDSIDED

Iowa star Clark knocked down during scary court-storming

Disaster nearly struck for Caitlin Clark and Iowa on Sunday in a scary scene.

After No. 18 Ohio State upset No. 2 Iowa in overtime in Columbus, 100-92, Buckeyes fans stormed the court to celebrate the victory. Amid the chaos, Clark and a fan collided hard, sending women’s college basketball’s best player crashing to the court.

Several people went to check on Clark after the collision, but fortunately, she told reporters after the incident that she was OK.

“It was kind of scary,” Clark said after the game. “Could’ve caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me, but luckily my teammates picked me up and got me off the court.”

Clark said Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith apologized to her afterward.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said that fans also screamed inappropriate things to her star player.

“You know, it’s unfortunate the game ended that way and Caitlin gets taken out on the floor,” a visibly angry Bluder said. “Gets some inappropriate words yelled at her by fans, by students. That just should not happen, it should not happen. Our players should be safe, they should be able to walk off the floor. That’s very disappointing.”

Clark scored a seasonhigh 45 points in the loss, which was just Iowa’s second of the season. She made 12 of 25 shots from the field while adding seven assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block but also committing seven turnovers.

“[Clark] had such a spectacular performance today, and she’s such a great player, and that should never happen,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “And so I feel really badly about it and hopefully it doesn’t affect her moving forward. But that is extremely unfortunate.”

The Hawkeyes had won 15 straight games before Sunday’s loss. Their only other loss this season came Nov. 16 at home against Kansas State.

“I could see they were storming the court, which was totally fine,” Clark said. “Good for their students; great win for them.”

Clark leads the nation with 31 points per game and 5.1 3-pointers made per game. She ranks second in assists at 7.7 per game.

The reigning player of the year is widely expected to be the top-overall pick of the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft in April.

AP; Getty Images OVERREACTIONS: Tulane fans storm the court in New Orleans to revel in the school’s upset of No. 10 men’s hoops team Memphis, not long after Iowa women’s star Caitlin Clark (inset) was knocked to the floor by a court-storming fan after her team was beaten by Ohio State.