What Iowa's Caitlin Clark Said After Loss to No. 2 Indiana Women's Basketball

Hear from Iowa women's basketball guard Caitlin Clark after the Hawkeyes' 87-78 loss to No. 2 Indiana Thursday night. Clark thought the crowd was tremendous, but the environment and Hoosier guarding didn't rattle her at all, she said.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Thursday night, No. 2 Indiana women's basketball got the best of No. 5 Iowa and star point guard Caitlin Clark as the Hoosiers improved to a 23-1 season record off an 87-78 win.

Indiana snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes and did so with strong three-point power and its ability to draw fouls from its opponent as the Hoosiers connected on 22 free throws compared to Iowa's 12.

Clark was the clear target before she even walked into the building as she's the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and averages 27.9 points, the most in the Big and second best in the country, and eight rebounds per game.

The West Des Moines, Iowa native finished the night with 35 points but also had four fouls and led the Hawkeyes with eight turnovers. Hoosier guard Chloe Moore-McNeil was given the daunting task of guarding Clark for most of the game, but Clark said she blames her turnovers on self-inflicted incidents due to being a fast-paced team.

"I don't think it took me out of a rhythm at all to be honest, maybe missed a couple shots in a row there for a while, but I felt like I was attacking the rim hard," Clark said. 

"Maybe a few shots didn't go down the way we'd like, but when my post fouls out of the game, I kind of have to shoot the ball a few more times."

That post was fifth year center Monika Czinano, who Hoosier forward Mackenzie Holmes matched up well with, limiting her to six points on the evening. While Holmes went to work on Czinano and finished with 24 points herself, fifth year guard Grace Berger helped take control of Indiana's offense scoring 26 points.

"Really, I didn't think we played our best game, but Indiana, Mackenzie Holmes — excellent job in the post," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. "I thought Grace Berger was outstanding for them."

Another outstanding component for the Hoosiers was three-point shooting as Indiana went 50 percent from downtown led by guards Sydney Parrish, Sara Scalia and Yarden Garzon.

"You didn't have three-point shooters you had to worry about last year, now you do," Bluder said. "It makes it harder." 

The program also got another positive nod as there was a record-breaking crowd of 13,046 Hoosiers packed into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to see the action. That apparently didn't rattle Clark.

"I thought the crowd was tremendous," Clark said. "I think it's really good for women's basketball, but we play in front of 13,000 fans every single night. That's what we do in Iowa City, so sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,000. That's what it'll be when Indiana comes back to town."

Indiana will head to Iowa City for its last regular season game on Sunday, Feb. 26 before the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis. Despite all the confidence, Clark said she's happy for Indiana, and it deserved the win.

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