COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Iowa’s Clark becoming all-time leading scorer in NCAA history
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Caitlin Clark scored 35 points in her final regular-season home game, becoming the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader in No. 6 Iowa’s 93-83 win over No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday.
Hannah Stuelke scored 23 points and Gabbie Marshall added 12 for the Hawkeyes (26-4, 15-3 Big Ten), who secured the No. 2 seed behind Ohio State in next week’s Big Ten Tournament. The regular-season champion Buckeyes (25-4, 16-2) had their 15-game winning streak snapped.
“I think you can say it’s a statement,” Clark said when asked what the win means heading into the conference tournament. “But more than anything, it’s just good momentum for our team going into the Big Ten Tournament. You never want to go into the Big Ten Tournament on a loss. So I think building off this is really important.”
Clark, who announced on Thursday that she would enter the WNBA draft after the season despite having another year of eligibility remaining, made two free throws with less than a second left in the first half to eclipse Pete Maravich’s 3,667 career points. Clark has 3,685 points heading into the postseason.
The Hawkeyes were facing a similar scenario when they finished last season, when they defeated regular-season champion Indiana on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Clark. But there was no need for late drama as Iowa took control of this game in the first half.
“This conference is so incredible,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Two top teams just battling it out right here in the Big Ten.”
The Hawkeyes went on an 18-3 run in the first quarter to take a 25-10 lead. Ohio State rallied in the second quarter to get within four points twice, and trailed 44-39 after Rikki Harris’ 3-pointer with seven seconds left before a wild sequence of events closed the half.
Big Ten women
Michigan State 78, Wisconsin 52: Moira Joiner had a game-high 20 points, including 15 in the second quarter, while helping the visiting Spartans (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) finish the regular season with a win.
Joiner was one of four players in double figures for the Spartans in a 78-52 victory over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
The win was the fifth straight for the Spartans, who finished fourth in the Big Ten standings and earns a double-bye in the league tournament this week. The Spartans got help to earn the double bye with Illinois beating Nebraska, 74-73, at home. MSU and Nebraska entered Sunday tied for fourth with Nebraska owning the tiebreaker thanks to its head-tohead win in December.
Michigan 64, Purdue 60: Cameron Williams scored 18 points on 9 of 13 shooting and Laila Phelia added 15 for the host Wolverines (18-12, 9-9), who shot 44% from the field. Abbey Ellis scored 23 points for Purdue (12-17, 513), which shot only 35.6% from the field. Michigan, the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, will play the winner of Rutgers-Minnesota on Thursday night in Minneapolis.