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Caitlin Clark mania leads Big Ten Tournament to sellout crowds

Caitlin Clark mania leads Big Ten Tournament to sellout crowds
CARL’S AUTO GROUP FOR THE FINAL TIME, THE CARVER CROWD FILLED THE ARENA TO SEE KATELYN CLARKE CLARKE STILL CHASING A RECORD LOOKING TO BECOME THE ALL TIME SCORER IN THE HISTORY OF DIVISION ONE COLLEGE BASKETBALL. THIS GAME, THOUGH IN ITSELF, WAS HUGE. HAWKEYES HOSTING THE SECOND RANKED OHIO STATE BUCKEYES, WHO BEAT THEM EARLIER THIS SEASON. CLARKE GETTING THE HANDOFF FROM GABBY MARSHALL, KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE IOWA LEADS, TEN SEVEN EARLY. CLARKE JUST HAD SIX POINTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER. THE SECOND QUARTER, SHE GOES OFF HAND OFF, THIS TIME FROM HANNAH STOKEY CLARKE THE THREE FROM THE RIGHT WING CLARKE HAD 12 IN THE SECOND QUARTER, BUT THE BIGGEST POINT OF THAT QUARTER RIGHT HERE, THIS FREE THROW AND THE TECHNICAL FOUL THAT ONE PASSES PISTOL PETE HAWKEYES LED BY NINE AT THE HALF SIX HALF GABBY MARSHALL BLEW THE LID OFF CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA. THE THREE HERE THE ASSIST FROM KYLEE FEUERBACH GABBY MARSHALL HEATING UP JUST LIKE LAST YEAR KATE MARTIN NOW WORKING DOWN LOW. NICE SPIN MOVE. LITTLE KISS OFF THE GLASS. MARTIN FINISHED WITH 11 ON SENIOR DAY. HAWKEYES LED BY 11 AT THE END OF THREE. HANNAH STOKES WAS AWESOME. BUCKET IN THE FOUL. SHE HAD 23 POINTS IN THIS GAME. THAT’S TRAVIS SCOTT AT THIS GAME. THAT’S HOW BIG THIS CAITLIN CLARK AND IOWA HAWKEYE PHENOMENON HAS GOTTEN. WHEN YOU HAVE THAT TYPE OF ARTIST AT THE GAME, IOWA GOES ON TO WIN IT. 93 TO 83 IS YOUR FINAL. LET’S SEND IT OUT TO SHANNON EARHART, WHO IS STILL IN IOWA CITY. SHANNON HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT TO HISTORY. JEFF, POST GAME COACH BLUDER TOLD US THAT BACK IN THE DAY, THEY USED TO CALL CAITLIN CLARK PONY TAIL. PETE, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? AND NOW SHE HOLDS THE RECORD. I MEAN. SHE PASSED ALL OF THE WOMEN’S RECORDS, SO SHE HAD TO MOVE ON TO THE MEN. IT CAME AT THE FREE THROW LINE LIKE YOU JUST SAW. BUT SHE DIDN’T STOP FROM THERE. SHE HUNG 35 POINTS ON THE NUMBER TWO TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. THE IOWA HAWKEYES DID WIN THIS GAME, THOUGH. IN THE PAINT. THE HAWKS HAD 14 MORE PAINT POINTS AND SEVEN MORE BOARDS THAT OHIO STATE WITH HANNAH STARKEY PUTTING UP 23. IOWA’S TURNING POINT WAS ACTUALLY RIGHT AFTER CLARKE BROKE THE RECORD AT THE LINE, WHEN STEPH TIPPED IN A PASS FOR A LAYUP THAT ENDED UP NOT COUNTING WITH 0.3 SECONDS BEFORE HALFTIME. BUT IT REALLY MEANT MORE THAN POINTS TO IOWA. IT’S COOL TO HEAR EVERYBODY JUST, LIKE, START SCREAMING. AND I THOUGHT THAT GAVE US A LOT OF MOMENTUM GOING INTO HALFTIME. EVEN THAT SEQUENCE, EVEN THOUGH THEY WIPED OFF THE TWO POINTS, LIKE WE KIND OF JUST THREW A PARTY AFTER WE MADE THAT SHOT, EVEN THOUGH IT DIDN’T COUNT. SO THAT WAS PRETTY FUN. WE THOUGHT IT COUNTED GOING INTO HALFTIME, AND EVEN IF IT DIDN’T, WE STILL DID IT RIGHT. LIKE WE STILL EXECUTED AND DID IT. AND SOME OF THAT MENTALLY JUST HELPS YOUR CONFIDENCE. AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS AN UNBELIEVABLE PLAY. ANOTHER STUNNER FOR IOWA. BUT ON THE BAD NEWS SIDE, WE SAW THAT MOLLY DAVIS HAD HER RIGHT LEG WRAPPED AND WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR, WHERE SHE INJURED HER RIGHT KNEE RIGHT IN THE END OF THE FIRST HALF. LISA BLUDER SAID THA
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Caitlin Clark mania leads Big Ten Tournament to sellout crowds
The full allotment of tickets for the Big Ten women's basketball tournament was sold nearly two weeks ago, assuring the attendance total will more than double the event record set last year.These teams aren't about to be awestruck by large and loud crowds.Video above: Iowa tops Ohio State in another record-setting performance by Caitlin ClarkFrom Iowa to Maryland, with Indiana and Ohio State in between, the conference has continued to stage well-attended games in a trend that suggests it has staying power long after Caitlin Clark — now the career scoring leader among all major college players — launches her last college 3-pointer.“They’re not just here for me. I’m sure I help, but at the end of the day, we have a really great team and a really great culture and that’s what makes it so fun,” Clark said Sunday after Iowa's sold-out home slate concluded with a win over Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State.The third-ranked Hawkeyes (26-4, 15-3) finished second in conference play. They enter the bracket in a quarterfinal game on Friday night against either seventh-seeded Penn State or 10th-seeded Wisconsin.The Big Ten could not have timed its decision to hold the tournament in Minneapolis any better, with the host arena Target Center a convenient drive of less than five hours from Iowa's campus for each of Clark's final two seasons in black and gold.The Hawkeyes beat the Buckeyes in the championship game last year in front of a Big Ten Tournament-record crowd of 9,505. The five-day total of 47,923 in 2023 will be smashed this time, with a final figure of more than 109,000 expected. That's an average of about 15,500 per session. Tickets are only available on the secondary market.“We've played in environments like that all year, so we'll be ready for it,” said Jacy Sheldon, the star guard for fourth-ranked Ohio State and the conference's third-leading scorer.The Buckeyes (26-4, 16-2) face either eighth-seeded Maryland or ninth-seeded Illinois in their quarterfinal on Friday. Iowa has two consecutive Big Ten Tournament titles to defend, but like Ohio State the overarching goal this weekend is to win enough to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.“We've done a great job of handling success when we've won for, basically, two months straight,” Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff said. “Now we've got to handle a tough loss.”The two-game first round is Wednesday, followed by a four-game second round on Thursday. Indiana and Michigan State grabbed the coveted double byes along with Ohio State and Iowa.That Buckeyes-Hawkeyes rematch in the championship game on Sunday is far from a given.The 12th-ranked Hoosiers (24-4, 15-3) had a 17-point win over Iowa on Feb. 22. Star center Mackenzie Holmes shot 17 for 18 from the floor in wins over Northwestern and Maryland last week, fueling their quest to secure a spot as one of the 16 hosts for first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games. Holmes had to leave the last game with an aggravation of the left knee injury that has hampered her throughout her career.The Spartans are on a five-game winning streak, boasting the sixth-best scoring average (84.5 points per game) in NCAA Division I play that trails only the nation-leading Hawkeyes (92.7) in the Big Ten.Tourney timeBeside Ohio State, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State, Nebraska ought to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Michigan and Maryland are bubble teams that could use a win or two this week to be safe. ESPN's latest projection has Penn State as one of the last four teams to miss the cut for at-large bids.CrowdsourceThe Big Ten accounts for five of the top 15 home attendance figures in the country. Iowa (14,998 per game) sold out the entire season and might well have topped South Carolina (16,489) for the national lead if Carver-Hawkeye Arena were bigger. Indiana (10,038) is fifth, Ohio State (7,559) is ninth, Maryland (7,545) is 10th and Nebraska (6,088) is 15th.The Hawkeyes also triggered a sellout of every true road game they played this season. Their visit to Ohio State drew 18,660 fans, a program record for the Buckeyes.Soaring scoresThe Big Ten has five of the top 16 offensive teams in the nation, with Penn State (seventh), Ohio State (15th) and Indiana (16th). Clark is by far the individual leader at 32.3 points per game.Clark watchLast week, Clark passed Lynette Woodard for the all-time scoring record in major women's college basketball and overtook Pete Maravich as the career NCAA leader for either gender with 3,685 points.With 16 more points, Clark will crack the all-time top 10 for all levels. Steve Platt, who played for Huntington College in Indiana in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics competition, had 3,700 career points from 1971-74.Clark has six triple-doubles this season. She set the NCAA single-season record with 162 made 3-pointers and counting and the Big Ten career record with 509.

The full allotment of tickets for the Big Ten women's basketball tournament was sold nearly two weeks ago, assuring the attendance total will more than double the event record set last year.

These teams aren't about to be awestruck by large and loud crowds.

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Video above: Iowa tops Ohio State in another record-setting performance by Caitlin Clark

From Iowa to Maryland, with Indiana and Ohio State in between, the conference has continued to stage well-attended games in a trend that suggests it has staying power long after Caitlin Clark — now the career scoring leader among all major college players — launches her last college 3-pointer.

“They’re not just here for me. I’m sure I help, but at the end of the day, we have a really great team and a really great culture and that’s what makes it so fun,” Clark said Sunday after Iowa's sold-out home slate concluded with a win over Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State.

The third-ranked Hawkeyes (26-4, 15-3) finished second in conference play. They enter the bracket in a quarterfinal game on Friday night against either seventh-seeded Penn State or 10th-seeded Wisconsin.

The Big Ten could not have timed its decision to hold the tournament in Minneapolis any better, with the host arena Target Center a convenient drive of less than five hours from Iowa's campus for each of Clark's final two seasons in black and gold.

The Hawkeyes beat the Buckeyes in the championship game last year in front of a Big Ten Tournament-record crowd of 9,505. The five-day total of 47,923 in 2023 will be smashed this time, with a final figure of more than 109,000 expected. That's an average of about 15,500 per session. Tickets are only available on the secondary market.

“We've played in environments like that all year, so we'll be ready for it,” said Jacy Sheldon, the star guard for fourth-ranked Ohio State and the conference's third-leading scorer.

The Buckeyes (26-4, 16-2) face either eighth-seeded Maryland or ninth-seeded Illinois in their quarterfinal on Friday. Iowa has two consecutive Big Ten Tournament titles to defend, but like Ohio State the overarching goal this weekend is to win enough to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

“We've done a great job of handling success when we've won for, basically, two months straight,” Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff said. “Now we've got to handle a tough loss.”

The two-game first round is Wednesday, followed by a four-game second round on Thursday. Indiana and Michigan State grabbed the coveted double byes along with Ohio State and Iowa.

That Buckeyes-Hawkeyes rematch in the championship game on Sunday is far from a given.

The 12th-ranked Hoosiers (24-4, 15-3) had a 17-point win over Iowa on Feb. 22. Star center Mackenzie Holmes shot 17 for 18 from the floor in wins over Northwestern and Maryland last week, fueling their quest to secure a spot as one of the 16 hosts for first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games. Holmes had to leave the last game with an aggravation of the left knee injury that has hampered her throughout her career.

The Spartans are on a five-game winning streak, boasting the sixth-best scoring average (84.5 points per game) in NCAA Division I play that trails only the nation-leading Hawkeyes (92.7) in the Big Ten.

Tourney time

Beside Ohio State, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State, Nebraska ought to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Michigan and Maryland are bubble teams that could use a win or two this week to be safe. ESPN's latest projection has Penn State as one of the last four teams to miss the cut for at-large bids.

Crowdsource

The Big Ten accounts for five of the top 15 home attendance figures in the country. Iowa (14,998 per game) sold out the entire season and might well have topped South Carolina (16,489) for the national lead if Carver-Hawkeye Arena were bigger. Indiana (10,038) is fifth, Ohio State (7,559) is ninth, Maryland (7,545) is 10th and Nebraska (6,088) is 15th.

The Hawkeyes also triggered a sellout of every true road game they played this season. Their visit to Ohio State drew 18,660 fans, a program record for the Buckeyes.

Soaring scores

The Big Ten has five of the top 16 offensive teams in the nation, with Penn State (seventh), Ohio State (15th) and Indiana (16th). Clark is by far the individual leader at 32.3 points per game.

Clark watch

Last week, Clark passed Lynette Woodard for the all-time scoring record in major women's college basketball and overtook Pete Maravich as the career NCAA leader for either gender with 3,685 points.

With 16 more points, Clark will crack the all-time top 10 for all levels. Steve Platt, who played for Huntington College in Indiana in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics competition, had 3,700 career points from 1971-74.

Clark has six triple-doubles this season. She set the NCAA single-season record with 162 made 3-pointers and counting and the Big Ten career record with 509.