Women's NCAA tournament 2022 -- Megastar Caitlin Clark brings bold and bountiful game into March

IN A STATE known for «Nebraska Nice,» they booed Caitlin Clark. It happened on an early January Sunday, right after church. Dadgummit, you'd boo, too. The Nebraska-Iowa border rivalry, in recent times, sparks painful memories for the Cornhuskers (Google «kicker Keith Duncan,» «Nebraska football sideline» and «blows a kiss»). But that's only part of it.

Clark plays basketball like she lives: Loud and bold. It can be off-putting if you're on the receiving end of it. She doesn't just make 3-pointers; she swishes logo shots. She doesn't just pass the ball. Her assists can contain enough zip to maim someone if not handled properly, and have a tendency to make people look silly. She has a smile that doubles as a smirk, she has Kevin Durant gushing over her, but most of all, and this is what flummoxes people the most, is that Clark is a young woman without a shred of self-doubt.

With about 30 seconds to go at Nebraska and a close game finally in hand for the Hawkeyes, she was fouled for the 10th time and proceeded to dribble and run the length of the floor after the whistle blew, laying the ball up and into the hoop. That's when they booed.

They were playing right into her hands.

Clark raised her arms, wiggled her fingers and motioned, «bring it on» to the 8,415 who filled the lower bowl at Pinnacle Bank Arena. She proceeded to miss the first free throw, and the crowd leapt out of its seats and roared. It may be hyperbole, but one Nebraska fan would later say it was the loudest she'd heard it at the arena in years, for the women or the men. Clark finished with 31 points and 12 assists; Iowa won 95-86.

A few minutes later, she showed up at the postgame news conference, predictably unfazed.

«That,» she said, «was a super-fun