Caitlin Clark closes home career, Iowa defeats West Virginia - ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark walked off the Carver-Hawkeye Arena court a winner for the last time Monday. But to do it, she and the Iowa Hawkeyes had to survive a nerve-wracking defensive battle and win the type of game they usually struggle with.

The highest-scoring team this season in Division I women's basketball (92.8 PPG coming into Monday's second-round game) had to fend off a West Virginia team that made Iowa work for every point it got. The Hawkeyes only scored one basket in the fourth quarter. But they're still moving on to the Sweet 16, and Clark and her fellow seniors said goodbye to a building they've filled all season long.

Iowa, the No. 1 seed in the Albany 2 Region, beat No. 8 seed West Virginia 64-54. Clark had 32 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in her final home game, and broke yet another record in her historic season. She now has 1,113 points, passing former Washington Huskies star Kelsey Plum for most points in a Division I season.

She already had broken Plum's NCAA women's career scoring record, Lynette Woodard's major-college women's record and Pete Maravich's D-I overall record. But all the fanfare over her individual accolades wouldn't have meant as much to Clark if things had ended badly Monday.

And it appeared that could happen for much of the game. Before Monday, the Hawkeyes were 3-8 in games where they scored under 70 points in Clark's career. That included a 64-62 second-round loss to Creighton in 2022, Clark's sophomore season. Iowa was a No. 2 seed then, and Creighton No. 10.

Clark said that upset was one of the greatest motivators of her career.

«I don't think my career evolves in the way that it [did] if we don't lose to Creighton,» Clark said. «I don't think we go to the Final Four