"She brought someone to tears one time" - Caitlin Clark's high school teammate recalls her dominance as she leads Iowa to national title game
Caitlin Clark had another amazing night on Friday, leading Iowa to an upset win over defending champions South Carolina. She was nearly unstoppable in the Hawkeyes' 77-73 win, finishing with 41 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
In an interview with The Athletic, Clark's former high school teammate Ella McVey recalled her dominance a few years ago. McVey talked about how the future Iowa star made someone cry on the court after she hit her patented crossover move and step-back 3-point shot.
"She brought someone to tears one time on the court just by what she was doing, not even what she was saying," McVey said. "It was just one of those things where I'm like, 'I get it.' Because I was typically the one who guarded her in practice a lot of the time."
Caitlin Clark was a high school basketball star for Dowling Catholic in Des Moines, Iowa. She averaged 33.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game as a senior and was named McDonald's All-American and Iowa Miss Basketball that season.
Clark also scored 60 points in a game during her junior year, hitting a single-game state record of 13 3-point shots. She won Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2019. She was a five-star recruit and was ranked fourth-best high school prospect in her class by ESPN.
The dynamic guard committed to Iowa over Iowa State and Notre Dame. In her junior season with the Hawkeyes, Clark was named the AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year.
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Caitlin Clark leads Iowa to first NCAA finals appearance
Fresh off the first triple-double in NCAA women's tournament history, Caitlin Clark exploded for her second consecutive 40-point game. She helped the Iowa Hawkeyes end the South Carolina Gamecocks' 42-game winning streak, which started their championship run last year.
Iowa now face LSU in the title game on Sunday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It will be interesting to see if Clark can help the Hawkeyes win their first NCAA championship to cap off her historic season.
Clark ended Friday's game with 41 points, six rebounds and eight assists. She went 15-for-31 from the field but was just 5-for-17 from beyond the arc. However, she was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and was simply too hot to handle for South Carolina. She praised her teammates after the game:
"I might score the most points, but at the end of the day, we aren't anywhere without my teammates. ... Everybody did their role. That's what our team is about. Knowing your role, doing your role and showing up in that every single day."
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