Caitlin Clark: ‘No reason to freak out’ after loss to Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — In the postgame scrum at center court, Alexis Markowski located her father.

“I’ve shared a lot of special times here with Dad,” Markowski said. “This was really special.”

A second-generation University of Nebraska basketball player (her dad, Andy, played here in the late 1990s), Markowski and the Huskers finally got the best of Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“Me and Jaz (Shelley) ... we told each other that this was going to be our year,” Markowski said. “We were 0-7 (against Iowa). We’d been close.

“We had a special moment. This is our year.”

That’s where Iowa is in the national women’s basketball orbit. Beat the Hawkeyes, and it’s a season-maker.

Ohio State fans stormed the court after beating Iowa on Jan. 21. And Huskers fans did it Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena after overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, 82-79.

“Everybody is going to give their best shot against us,” Clark said. “If we don’t know that by now ... I don’t know.

“There’s no reason to freak out. We need to look in the mirror and find ways to get better. We still control our destiny, and that’s all that matters.”

Iowa (22-3 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) fell a game behind Ohio State in the Big Ten standings. The Hawkeyes still can earn at least a share of the league title if they win out, which would include a win over the Buckeyes on March 3.

Clark was scoreless in the fourth quarter, and the Hawkeyes were outscored 27-10.

“We got away from playing Iowa basketball,” Kate Martin said. “We were playing to not lose instead of playing to win. We got complacent, and that’s something you should never do.”

Both Clark and Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder insisted that Clark’s pursuit of Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record has not been a distraction.

The chase should come to an end Thursday at home against Michigan. With 3,520 points, Clark needs seven to match Plum, eight to surpass.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com