Caitlin Clark held to 24 points as Iowa falls to Indiana - ESPN

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Before a sold-out crowd at Indiana's Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Iowa star Caitlin Clark might have felt at times like most of the 17,222 in attendance were guarding her. That's how hard the No. 14 Hoosiers made things on Clark and the No. 4 Hawkeyes, winning 86-69.

The 17-point margin of defeat was the biggest for Iowa since it lost by 17 to LSU in last season's national championship game. Clark's 24 points were eight below her average and marked her lowest scoring output since Dec. 2, when she also had 24 in a victory over Bowling Green. It's her second-lowest total of the season; her lowest was 21 on Nov. 25 against Florida Gulf Coast.

A week ago at home in Iowa City, Clark had a school-record 49 points in breaking the NCAA women's basketball career scoring record. The Hawkeyes hadn't played since then until Thursday, while the Hoosiers were coming off an 86-66 loss at Illinois on Monday.

Indiana coach Teri Moren acknowledged that the Hoosiers «laid an egg» against the Illini. They came into Thursday's game believing they had to beat Iowa to help strengthen their case to be among the NCAA tournament's top 16 seeds. That's especially important in women's basketball, because those teams get to host early-round games.

«You lose a game like Illinois, and you think, 'Oh, wow, our backs are against the wall,'» Moren said. «Tonight was a step in the right direction to help secure that [host seed] for our fans.

»We made everything very difficult for Caitlin Clark tonight, and that's hard to do. She's a phenomenal player."

Clark, who was 8-of-26 from the field overall and 3-of-16 from 3-point range, said Indiana's defense was one of the toughest Iowa has faced this season.

«Being physical,