Caitlin Clark repeats as Associated Press national women’s basketball player of the year

CLEVELAND — She was born with it, an uncommon fire.

“From the time I was little, I hated to lose, and I loved to win,” Caitlin Clark said.

A whirlwind who elevated women’s basketball to unprecedented heights and lifted Iowa to national prominence, Clark won her second consecutive Associated Press player-of-the-year honor Thursday.

“I play because it’s fun, and because I get to do it with my best friends,” she said. “(Basketball) brings people together. They remember the wins and losses, and every moment in between.”

Clark received 35 votes from the 36-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week.

Voting was done before the NCAA tournament.

Clark becomes the sixth player to win the award more than once, the fifth to do it in consecutive seasons.

A 6-foot senior from West Des Moines, Clark is the NCAA Division-I career scoring leader, with 3,900 career points.

“She’ll leave a legacy of leadership,” said South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley, the AP coach of the year. “Caitlin’s freshman year (2000-01), there weren’t many people in the stands, but boy, Iowa made up for it.”

After a national runner-up finish (to LSU) last year, Clark and the Hawkeyes (33-4) are back in the Final Four. They’ll face No. 10 Connecticut (33-5) in a semifinal at 8:30 p.m. (CT) Friday.

Staley’s top-ranked South Carolina squad (36-0) will face No. 11 North Carolina State (31-6) in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m.

Clark is averaging 32.0 points and 9.0 assists per game this season. Both of those marks lead the nation. She posted 41 points and 12 assists as Iowa topped LSU, 94-87, in the regional final Monday.

She is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft later this month, a slot held by the Indiana Fever.

Iowa players have won the award three times in six years; Megan Gustafson was honored in 2019.

Staley won the award for the second time, receiving 27 votes.

Lindsay Gottlieb of USC, Felisha Legette-Jack of Syracuse and Scott Rueck of Oregon State tied for second with two votes each.

Clark and Staley also swept the Naismith Award (Wednesday) and the Wade Trophy (Thursday). Clark also won a second straight Basketball Honda Sport Award on Thursday.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com