Iowa's Caitlin Clark focused on fast start, not final home game - ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark said she won't be thinking about the fact that Monday's NCAA tournament second-round matchup with West Virginia will be the last home game of her Iowa career. Instead, she and the Hawkeyes — the Albany 2 Region No. 1 seed — are fully consumed by the battle they expect to get from the No. 8 seed Mountaineers (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

«Coming out with a strong start will be really important for us; I think that goes for any game,» Clark said Sunday. «But our group has played in quite a few March Madness games where we didn't come out and set the tone, and we were able to take a breath and respond.

»I think understanding we're not going to win by 25 points. That's not what this is at this point. It's going to come down to single possessions, and you have to execute possessions. You need to get [offensive] boards. We need to not turn the ball over. Little things like that."

It didn't escape the Hawkeyes' notice that the Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State Buckeyes, who gave Iowa one of its four losses this season, were upset on their home court Sunday in the second round. The No. 2 seed Buckeyes lost 75-63 to the No. 7 seed Duke Blue Devils in the Portland 3 Region.

Two years ago, No. 2 seed Iowa lost at home in the second round, 64-62 to No. 10 Creighton. Last season, the Hawkeyes were a No. 2 seed again and didn't pull away until late in a 74-66 victory over No. 10 seed Georgia, also in the second round at home. That was a two-point game with under a minute left, before Clark sealed the victory by scoring the last six points.

«Our group knows better than anybody this is a game that is going to be close,» Clark said of facing the Big 12's Mountaineers. «Doesn't really matter what number is