Caitlin Clark ‘s season has cemented her as possibly the greatest women’s college basketball player in NCAA history. Playing in her final season with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Clark is vying for a national championship before moving on to the WNBA. But tonight’s opposing head coach Mark Kellogg told his West Virginia players to send Clark packing. Instead, she dropped 32 points to send West Virginia packing from the NCAA March Madness.
The Mountaineers under their first-year head coach Mark Kellogg were looking to have a good NCAA March Madness this season. On selection day, he told his players;
I already told them, win one and let’s send Caitlin Clark packing.
Mark Kellogg to his team
This is after he understood that West Virginia will play against the Hawkeyes in the second round. West Virginia’s 8th seed meant they had an easy path to the second round to meet Caitlin Clark and her team in the round of 32.
This quote from coach Kellogg was supposed to rile up his players to motivate them towards a win against Clark and move into the Sweet Sixteen. Instead, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, led all players with 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists to help her Hawkeyes win.
This win did the opposite for coach Kellogg and his claim. Instead of packing Clark, they were on the team bus heading home. Although one can say that his team did put up a decent fight against the heavily favored Hawkeyes. Clark and her teammates move on to the round of Sweet Sixteen.
Caitlin Clark’s goal of an NCAA Championship to get tougher
In the Sweet Sixteen, Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes will face the 5th-seeded Colorado Buffaloes. Although it will be a harder matchup than that against West Virginia, the Buffaloes should not be a hindrance for Clark to reach the Elite 8. But that is when the party will start to get tougher for Clark to enjoy, as she vies for her first NCAA Championship before heading to the WNBA.
In the Elite 8 chances are Clark will resume her rivalry with Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers. A rematch of last season’s NCAA Championship should set the TV broadcasting ratings on fire. The Hawkeyes are better than they were last season, so they could beat LSU to book a place in the Final Four. From then on it could be Juju Watkins and her USC Trojans or Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies.
And finally, a possible championship fight against the undefeated University of South Carolina. A daunting task ahead, but at least Caitlin Clark is not packing to go home as West Virginia and Mark Kellogg hoped for.
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