The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Court-storming scare raises safety concerns
The visual of one of the nation’s most popular athletes knocked to the floor after a fan who was staring at her phone collided with her while storming the court was a stark reminder of the dangers athletes face when crowds get out of control.
Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark was shaken up but not injured in the collision, which occurred Sunday as she headed toward the locker room with teammates following a 100-92 overtime loss to then-no. 18 Ohio State in Columbus.
It was the second time in less than two weeks that fans have stormed the court at the end of a Big Ten game.
It happened Jan. 9 in Lincoln when the Nebraska men knocked off then-no. 1 Purdue.
Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said afterward game management personnel need to be better prepared to protect athletes caught up in the commotion.
Of the six major basketball conferences, four fine host schools for a first offense of failure to keep fans off the court. The ACC does not levy fines and the Big Ten
waits until a third offense.
“We try not to be too heavyhanded on the policy of courtstorming for a problem that doesn’t necessarily exist . ... Don’t want to unfairly financially hurt already cash-strapped athletic departments,” Big Ten vice president of strategic communications Scott Markley said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
“But we do have a policy. But generally it’s rely on school policy, local law enforcement, (to) know what’s best for their fans and student-athletes and officials. And we’re always monitoring these things and discuss if we need to make adjustments in the interest of a safe environment.”
Clark, the nation’s leading scorer and reigning national player of the year. was knocked to the floor and had to be helped up by her teammates. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said fans also screamed inappropriate things to the star player.
Clark said she was “OK,” and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith apologized to her for the incident.
Clark scored 45 points in the loss in front of more than 18,000 fans — the largest crowd to watch a women’s basketball game at Ohio State.
“We beat an incredible team with one of the best players to ever play our sport, and we did it in front of 18,000 people,” Ohio State coach Kevin Mcguff said. UCLA BACK TO NO. 2 >> There was some shifting in the women’s top 10 this week, with UCLA moving back up to No. 2 after beating Colorado on the road. The Bruins played at No. 16 Utah late on Monday night.
Undefeated South Carolina remained at No. 1 and Colorado remained in the third spot, thanks to a win over then-no. 6 USC, which fell to 11th after losing to Utah.
MOVEMENT IN MEN’S POLL >> The men’s top 25 rankings had another week of upheaval, with teams bouncing around like kernels in a popcorn maker.
The same two teams remained at the top amid the poll turmoil: Reigning national champion Connecticut received 44 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 Purdue got 17 firstplace votes.
A loss by Kansas jumbled the rest of the top five.
No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Tennessee all moved up a spot by sweeping two games each last week.
The Jayhawks dropped four spots to No. 7 following a 91-85 loss to West Virginia.
Coming off a pair of wins, New Mexico (16-3) is ranked No. 25, in the poll for the first time since last January.
DEPAUL FIRES COACH >> Depaul fired coach Tony Stubblefield on Monday after he was unable to turn around a once-proud program that has struggled in recent decades.
The Blue Demons were 28-54 overall and 9-38 in Big East play in two-plus seasons under Stubblefield. They’re headed to their fourth straight losing season, with a 3-15 record and 0-7 mark in the conference. Depaul has dropped 20 of 21 games against Big East opponents.