“I was personally kind of nervous”: Caitlin Clark reveals 1 Iowa game she was anxious about
Be it igniting the best-ever program run at Iowa Hawkeyes or leading WNBA's Indiana Fever to its first-ever playoff since 2016, Caitlin Clark is always up for a challenge. However, one particular game with the Hawkeyes gave the point guard jitters, mostly due to the complexity of the fans involved in the matchup.
Clark discussed Iowa's road to the Big 10 tourney and NCAA finals on the "Big Tawk" podcast with her former teammates Jada Gyamfi, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall. With that, she shared feeling nervous before the Nov. 13, 2023, game against the Northern Iowa Panthers..
"We went to Northern Iowa and like, that's a hard place to play - sold out," Clark said. "I was like personally kind of nervous for that game. I don't know why, it was just like the instate rivalries, you never know how they're going to go. And we went in there and just destroyed them by 40." (20:24)
Despite feeling a bit edgy before the game, Caitlin Clark dropped a triple-double against Northern Iowa. She scored 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, leading the Hawkeyes to a comfortable 94-53 win.
While Gyamfi only saw four minutes of playing time, Kate Martin scored nine points and eight rebounds on 50% shooting, and Gabbie Marshall posted 17 points on 5 of 10 3-point shooting.
During the game, Caitlin Clark became the Iowa Hawkeyes scoring leader in men's and women's basketball history. She also became the only player besides Sabrina Ionescu to have a triple-double in four separate college seasons.
Caitlin Clark's name continues to shatter records in the WNBA
Clark singlehandedly cultivated a dynasty in Iowa. The program’s home and road games were constantly sold out behind her name, and several viewership records were created as fans tuned in to watch the Hawkeyes’ NCAA tournament run last season.
Caitlin Clark’s effect transitioned successfully to the WNBA when the 2024 draft saw 2.45 million viewers tuning into the two-hour segment. Not only did it make a new record but it was four times the previous checkpoint, 601,000 viewers in 2004, behind Diana Taurasi’s draft.
Moreover, Clark’s Indiana Fever jersey added to the overall rise in WNBA jersey sales. Her jersey led the league in sales this season, giving a 1,193% rise to the Fever’s merchandise sales before the franchise clinched a playoff spot.