Happy Homecoming for Caitlin Clark

Hawkeye Senior Nets 38 Points Saturday in Des Moines

DES MOINES — The final act of her show in her hometown was a 3-pointer from the corner that provided the last of her 38 points.

Then Iowa guard Caitlin Clark turned to the fans sitting courtside and high-fived as many of them as she could.

In an arena where she has so many family memories and maybe some not-so-good high school basketball memories, Clark put on another performance in an act that never gets tiresome, and her teammates were more than happy to follow along.

The 104-75 rout of Cleveland State was the eighth consecutive win for the No. 4 Hawkeyes (11-1), who posted their fourth win with 100 or more points this season.

The sellout crowd of 14,786 bought tickets for a doubleheader of basketball — Iowa’s men’s team rolled over Florida A&M in the opener — but the star was going to be Clark, the West Des Moines native who enjoyed being embraced by her hometown.

“Yeah, it's really special,” Clark said. “This is probably the game that was circled on the calendar for myself.”

Clark doesn’t get nervous for games, she said, but admitted to “chills” walking out the court.

She talked about how she grew up coming to basketball and hockey games here, and while she holds records in the Iowa girls high school state tournament in points scored in a game (60) and 3-pointers made in a game (7), she also admitted to some struggles.

Clark would go 13-of-21 from the field, 9-of-16 in 3-pointers, in this game.

“Probably my best performance shooting in Wells Fargo Arena,” she said, laughing. “I don’t remember too many great ones previously.”

There were some flaws in this game, too — Clark said she was a little nervous when someone asked her about her nine 3-pointers, because “I didn’t know if you were going to say nine threes or nine turnovers.”

And with all of the logo threes, there was one she heaved that just hit the right side of the backboard.

“I know when I made nine (3-pointers) but I felt like a couple more could have dropped,” Clark said. “I thought they were going to go in minus the one that didn't even hit the rim that I shot for about half court.”

None of those little glitches mattered to the fans.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called the atmosphere “electric” and compared it to an NCAA tournament game.

But if it did feel like March, the way the Hawkeyes attacked the game was similar to their run to the national championship game last year.

Iowa shot 50.7 percent from the field, carving Cleveland State’s zone defense for 44 points inside.

“I’m very happy with how we dissected their zone,” Bluder said.

Clark’s teammates had their own fun.

Hannah Stuelke had 17 points and 13 rebounds for her second career double-double. Kate Martin had 15 points, going 9-of-9 in free throws. Sharon Goodman came close to her own double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

But it was Clark’s night, and she played the role she knows all too well.

“This place will always have a special place in my heart,” Clark said. “I'm just really thankful to be able to come back here and play in front of this crowd.”

The feeling was mutual.