IOWA CITY − The final two years of second-round NCAA Event video games at Carver-Hawkeye Area have produced extraordinarily difficult circumstances for the Iowa girls’s basketball staff.
On the floor, a 3rd in a row ought to be anticipated in Caitlin Clark’s last faculty house recreation.
Eighth-seeded West Virginia (25-7) brings a assured mentality and ball-hawking protection into Monday’s 7 p.m., ESPN-televised matchup in opposition to Iowa (30-4), with a berth within the NCAA Event Candy 16 on the road.
“We simply all have enjoyable on the defensive finish. It’s one thing we love to do,” West Virginia’s Lauren Fields stated. “We feed off one another after we’re getting steals.”
Iowa is the highest seed within the Albany 2 area and would face fifth-seeded Colorado subsequent Saturday with a win. However the Hawkeyes are more likely to be with out Molly Davis, their second-best ball handler, for a fifth straight recreation after she injured her proper knee in opposition to Ohio State on March 3. That might show to be a notable absence. Sydney Affolter has accomplished a terrific job dealing with Davis’ beginning function, however she is extra of a small ahead. That places extra duty on Clark’s shoulders to deal with West Virginia’s fixed full-court strain protection.
“If Molly can’t go, we’ve simply received to hope that everyone retains composed and doesn’t get in foul hassle,” Iowa affiliate head coach Jan Jensen stated, referring partially to Clark exhibiting ample frustration in Saturday’s 91-65 opening win in opposition to Holy Cross. “I feel Caitlin’s up for the problem. She’s received a whole lot of strain. She’ll admit that (Saturday) was not an ideal evening for that.”
Clark is aware of the West Virginia press shall be Iowa’s largest problem Monday.
“The largest factor is getting stops defensively to allow them to’t arrange their press,” Clark stated.
The Mountaineers pack the perfect scoring protection that Iowa has seen all season, at 57.6 factors per recreation. They’re No. 1 nationally in turnover margin, at plus-8.5 per recreation. They’re second within the nation in steals, with 13.8 per recreation.
West Virginia’s high 4 scorers all have no less than 76 steals this season. Iowa has just one participant with 40-plus (Clark, with 61).
West Virginia guard Jordan Harrison stated stopping Clark contains “staying on her hip, taking part in aggressive, being there on her each catch.”
Huge 12 defensive participant of the yr JJ Quinerly stated the purpose with Clark is “simply preserving her to her weaknesses. On the finish of the day, she’s going to get her factors. We all know that. You’ve simply received to maintain the opposite gamers at bay.”
Iowa’s second-round NCAA Event historical past is well-known by now. A two-point house loss to No. 10 seed Creighton nonetheless stings, two years later. Final yr’s 74-66 win in opposition to No. 10 seed Georgia got here all the way down to Clark hitting a clutch shot in a tense last minute. The Hawkeyes have been early 16½-point favorites however they know they should be cautious in opposition to a strain staff like West Virginia, which might wreak havoc.
“I feel if we’re locked in on the press, we’ll be OK they usually’ll find yourself having to take it off,” Affolter stated. “However groups that press can odor blood. If you happen to (present) worry, they’ll come after you. We’re all assured in breaking the press.”
‘On the ‘let’s ship Caitlin Clark packing’ feedback
You’ve in all probability seen the documentary clip or no less than the meme of Michael Jordan reflecting on slights throughout his last run with the 1998 Chicago Bulls and him saying, “That’s all I wanted. … And it turned private for me.”
Clark’s private hearth and competitiveness have been in contrast with Jordan’s and for good purpose. Increasingly persons are getting a window into that facet of her as her star grows.
So, although West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg has defined away his feedback after the NCAA Event bracket got here out – when he stated to his staff and people gathered, “Let’s ship Caitlin Clark packing” – there’s a very good probability she’s taken these feedback personally and added them to her gasoline tank.
Kellogg has stated he has obtained hate e-mail from purported Iowa supporters after the feedback. After West Virginia’s first-round win Saturday in opposition to Princeton, Kellogg identified that the snippet began with murmurs in regards to the Mountaineers being seeded No. 8 after a 24-7 season: “That wasn’t the intent. I’m not a trash-talking – I wasn’t out to get Caitlin Clark. It’s not Mark Kellogg vs. Caitlin Clark. There was some shock within the room … with our seed, is the way it received began. That wasn’t actually the seed that many within the individuals in room have been anticipating.”
Kellogg stated his youngsters love to observe Clark and known as her “the best scorer in basketball historical past.” He was having enjoyable with the controversy main into Monday’s recreation. Sure, he is aware of that Iowa is already taking part in at house.
“Folks have been like, ‘Properly, she’s gonna be house if we win.’ It’s all been half-so humorous,” Kellogg stated. “You know the way social media works. The clip simply retains getting shorter and shorter and shorter. And by the tip of it, it’s ‘Mark Kellogg is asking out Caitlin Clark’ or no matter.”
Addison O’Grady emergence is a key growth for Iowa
After the Huge Ten Event championship and earlier than Iowa knew its doable first- and second-round NCAA Event opponents, the staff had time to work on itself. Iowa affiliate head coach Jan Jensen additionally stated the staff tried to work on opponents with extra measurement than the Hawkeyes have. After all, the final word measurement staff is No. 1 South Carolina is on the opposite facet of the bracket. One other is No. 2 seed UCLA ought to Iowa advance to the Elite Eight of the Albany 2 area.
One of many beneficiaries of that point off seems to be Addison O’Grady. Iowa will want her if the NCAA wins preserve piling up. O’Grady was so good and so necessary in Saturday’s first-round recreation that she was requested by head coach Lisa Bluder to get the honour of putting the “IOWA” sticker on the following line within the bracket after the sport.
“Her confidence is an enormous a part of how she performs,” teammate Hannah Stuelke stated of O’Grady. “She’s an ideal basketball participant, and he or she simply has to consider that. She will do something.”
With Stuelke (no factors) ailing, O’Grady tallied a season-high 14 factors on 7-for-9 capturing in solely 14 minutes off the bench. That complete was simply two shy of her career-high 16 set two seasons in the past. O’Grady, at 6-foot-4, brings extra measurement to the Iowa lineup than anybody else on the roster. It’s been coaxing extra out of her that has been the continued problem. O’Grady credited Jensen, a famend frontcourt coach, for serving to her alongside.
“She’s the put up whisperer, as she’s often called. She simply retains me bodily and mentally able to go,” O’Grady stated. “… She all the time reminds of how valued we’re, how good we’re, how prepared we’re for these moments.”
There have been conflicting stories about Stuelke’s absence within the last 26:41. Bluder stated she didn’t really feel effectively. Stuelke stated she had migraines but in addition conceded she received banged up. O’Grady talked about that coaches advised her Stuelke’s “knee wasn’t feeling nice,” which is why she began the second half.
On Sunday, Stuelke stated she was “completely” good to go in opposition to West Virginia after consuming Wig & Pen taco pizza and sleeping after the Holy Cross win.
“I am actually excited, particularly since I had restricted minutes (Saturday),” Stuelke stated. “I am going to have the ability to get again on the market absolutely. In order that’ll be actually enjoyable.”
Kylie Feuerbach was set to remain up late Sunday evening, for a very good purpose
On the eve of Iowa’s round-of-32 matchup with West Virginia, redshirt junior ahead Kylie Feuerbach was gearing as much as be an enormous Yale males’s basketball fan … once more.
Feuerbach’s boyfriend is John Poulakidas, who delivered one of many high performances within the NCAA males’s first spherical. Poulakidas scored a season-high 28 factors within the the Thirteenth-seeded Bulldogs’ upset of No. 4 seed Auburn, the Southeastern Convention event champion. Yale was scheduled to face San Diego State late Sunday evening for a spot within the Candy 16.
Feuerbach grinned extensively pondering again to her antics, in her bed room, whereas in pajamas and watching Poulakidas ship massive shot after massive shot. She stated teammate Gabbie Marshall streamed her reactions on FaceTime.
“It’s a really candy second for me although I’m not on the recreation, as a result of I understand how a lot work he places into his craft,” Feuerbach stated. “He’s a lights-out shooter.”
Feuerbach is from Sycamore, Sick., and Poulakidas is from close by Naperville, a western Chicago suburb. They knew one another in highschool by means of basketball and have been courting for about two years. Yale is taking part in in Spokane, Wash. It’s a wild time with each gamers going for Candy 16 berths in a matter of 24 hours, two time zones aside.
“We’re each locking in,” Feuerbach stated. “It’s very laborious speaking proper now as a result of we’re each busy. It’s such a enjoyable time and we simply need each of us to expertise it.”
Clark, a basketball junkie, lives with Feuerbach and provided her perspective on the Yale success.
“It is so humorous,” Clark stated. “My favourite factor is listening to Kylie screaming on the TV about Yale males’s basketball. It is fairly loopy. I take movies of her screaming on the TV, it is superior.”
Caitlin Clark: Due for a monster recreation?
That appears kind of loopy to even kind, contemplating the doubtless nationwide participant of the yr is averaging 29.7 factors and 12.3 assists over her final three video games. However Clark is aware of she hasn’t had a dynamic capturing efficiency since Feb. 28 at Minnesota, when she unleashed a 33-point barrage on 8-of-14 capturing from downtown on the evening she handed Lynette Woodard as Division I girls’s basketball’s all-time scoring chief.
Beginning with the Huge Ten Event, Clark has linked on “solely” 14 3-pointers on 51 makes an attempt, a 27.5% clip – effectively beneath the 39.3% season clip that preceded this four-game stretch.
Clark’s last house recreation as a Hawkeye definitely will deliver loads of highlight, and that’s normally when she is at her greatest. She scored a career-high 49 factors on Feb. 15 in opposition to Michigan, the evening she surpassed Kelsey Plum’s iconic NCAA file of three,527 profession factors.
Clark enters Monday’s recreation with an opportunity at extra Plum historical past. At 1,081 factors this season, she wants 29 to move Plum’s single-season mark of 1,109 set in 2017.
“That is my final time (taking part in in Carver),” Clark stated. “So we’ve received to exit on a excessive notice.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 29 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports activities Community. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports activities Columnist of the 12 months and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the 12 months in Iowa. Be part of Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Observe @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.