With more eyes on her since the season began, Caitlin Clark’s NCAA Tournament hasn’t started the way she wanted at all. After her game against Holy Cross, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ star explained more about what she went through in the opening match.
Within the game’s first five minutes, Hawkeyes guard committed four turnovers against Holy Cross. After that, Clark landed her first basket of the contest and became frustrated when she was taken out of the game late in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Holy Cross star Bronagh Power-Cassidy attempted to get past Clark but landed a nasty elbow on her face. A flagrant foul was called on the former as the Iowa star continued playing without sustaining any injury.
Furthermore, Clark’s three-pointer in the same quarter went in, much to the crowd’s joy, but was deemed invalid by the referee. These incidents, and several more, slowed Clark’s game down in the first half. Fortunately, the second half went better, which led to a 91-65 win for Iowa.
Iowa Hawkeyes Star Caitlin Clark Expresses Frustration After Slow Start in NCAA Tournament Opener
After the game, Clark spoke to reporters and explained how she felt during the first half. In an article written by Chad Leistikow for Hawk Central:
“I was a little frustrated. I feel like that comes from knowing what it takes for where we want to be. From here on out, every single team is going to give us a really good game. “I definitely think I could have smiled a little more but hey, I’m competitive, I want to win. I expect us to be really good all the time,” Clark said.
Clark finished the game with 27 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists. Meanwhile, Power-Cassidy tallied 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the NCAA Tournament’s opening game.
Clark may have had a slow start to her final run in the NCAA but she might heat up in the following days. Iowa is scheduled to face West Virginia next, as all eyes will be on the future WNBA star‘s journey to win it all in this tournament.
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