Iowa’s Clark short on breaking NCAA mark
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska and Iowa fans alike came to Pinnacle Bank Arena hoping to see Caitlin Clark set the NCAA women’s career scoring record on a nationally televised celebration of women’s basketball.
What they saw instead Sunday was a huge performance by the Cornhuskers, who rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat No. 2 Iowa 82-79.
Nebraska (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten Conference) earned its first win over a Top 25 opponent this season and its first over Iowa in 10 tries. A student-led court storming punctuated the afternoon.
Jaz Shelley’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left gave Nebraska its first lead, and she made all four of her free throws to close out the Hawkeyes (22-3, 11-2).
Clark, who finished with 31 points, was held scoreless over the final 12½ minutes. She missed her last six shots, including a 3 just ahead of the buzzer.
“Just didn’t execute down the stretch. It stinks,” Clark said.
Clark now has 3,520 career points and needs eight more to pass Aces standout Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527 for Washington from 2013-17. She likely will break the record Thursday at home against Michigan.
Women’s Top 25
■ No. 1 South Carolina 83,
No. 11 Connecticut 65: At Columbia, South Carolina, Tehina Paopao scored 21 points with five 3-pointers and Raven Johnson added 10 points and 12 rebounds as that Gamecocks (23-0) won their fourth straight over nonconference opponent Connecticut (19-5).
■ No. 3 North Carolina State 83, Pittsburgh 47: At Pittsburgh, Madison Hayes scored 16 points, River Baldwin had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, and the Wolfpack (21-3, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conferece) used a dominant second quarter to pull away from the Panthers (7-18, 1-11). North Carolina established its superiority with a 35-6 burst over the final 11 minutes of the first half.
■ No. 17 Oregon State 65,
No. 4 Colorado 59: At Boulder, Colorado, Talia von Oelhoffen scored 18 points and the Beavers (20-3, 9-3 Pac-12) played tough defense to hold the Buffaloes (204, 10-3) to their lowest scoring total of the season.
■ No. 5 Ohio State 86, Michigan State 71: At East Lansing, Michigan, Celeste Taylor scored 20 points to lead a balanced attack by the Buckeyes (21-3, 12-1 Big Ten Conference) against the Spartans (17-7, 7-6).
■ No. 6 Stanford 73, Washington State 58: At Pullman, Washington, Cameron Brink had 21 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, Hannah Jump added 20 points and the Cardinal (22-3, 11-2 Pac-12) beat the Cougars (15-10, 4-8).
■ No. 9 UCLA 78, Arizona State 45: At Los Angeles, Lauren Betts scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting as the Bruins (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) overwhelmed the Sun Devils (10-14, 2-10), who have lost 10 of 12.
Men’s Top 25
■ No. 20 Florida Atlantic 95, Wichita State 82: At Wichita, Kansas, Vladislav Goldin had 20 points and Brandon Weatherspoon scored 19 to lead the Owls (19-5, 9-2 American Athletic Conference) to an overtime victory against the Shockers (10-14, 2-9).