Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer sends No. 4 Iowa past Michigan State, 76-73

IOWA CITY — Of course she did.

Of course she made the shot. Of course she saved the day.

Caitlin Clutch, er, Clark did it again.

Clark swished a broken-play, fadeaway 28-footer as time expired to send fourth-ranked Iowa past Michigan State, 76-73, in a Big Ten women’s basketball game before a gold-clad crowd of 14,998 Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I was able to step back to my left, and that’s a shot I want to get to,” Clark said. “I knew it was going in.”

Iowa (14-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) built a nine-point fourth-quarter lead, blew it, then delivered at the end to earn its 11th consecutive victory.

“We found a way to win,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “That’s what good teams do. Caitlin has ice in her veins, and everybody knows it.”

Clark’s heroics came at the end of a final offensive set that had turned stagnant. The Hawkeyes had the ball, tied at 73-73, with 23 seconds left.

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With 2 seconds left, Hannah Stuelke had it, 23 feet away, her back to the basket. She found Clark nearby, and the senior guard ball-faked, dribbled left, faded away and let it fly from the beak of the midcourt Tiger Hawk.

When the shot found nylon, Clark raced to the other end of the court, her relieved teammates giving chase.

“I almost started laughing,” Clark said. “It was ugly, but it was a win.”

Clark finished with 40 points, five assists, three steals and one major block.

It came at 71-71, with the Spartans (11-3, 1-2) shooting for the lead. Clark swatted Moira Joiner’s attempt from under the basket.

“We needed a defensive stop, obviously,” Clark said. “(Joiner) didn’t see me, I volleyball-spiked it and Kate (Martin) corralled the rebound.”

Molly Davis was fouled by DeeDee Hagemann while attempting a 3-pointer from the left baseline — “She bit on the ball fake,” Davis said — missed the first free throw, then made the next two for a 73-71 Iowa lead with 0:29 remaining

Hagemann’s drive got the Spartans back even at 73-73 with 0:23 left, setting the stage for Clark.

And as was the case here last year against Indiana, she came through.

Stuelke added 15 points and eight rebounds. Davis posted eight points and seven boards. Martin was good for six points and 11 rebounds.

Michigan State scored the first eight points of the game, but Iowa answered with 14 in a row and led 25-17 after a quarter.

The Hawkeyes scored a season-low 10 points in the second period on 4-of-16 shooting and trailed 37-35 at intermission.

“It was one of the worst quarters I’ve seen for Iowa basketball,” Bluder said. “It was very uncharacteristic.”

The Spartans led by six points on three occasions in the third quarter before the Hawkeyes rallied to tie at 55-55. Clark’s two free throws, after an intentional foul by MSU’s Jocelyn Tate, put Iowa seemingly in command, 66-57, with 5:13 left in the game.

Julia Ayrault led the Spartans with 16 points, including a bucket to tie it, 71-71, with 1:17 left. Hagemann scored 14.

The Hawkeyes play at Rutgers at 5 p.m. (CT) Friday.

Iowa 76, Michigan State 73

At Iowa City

MICHIGAN STATE (73): Jocelyn Tate 4-10 0-0 8, DeeDee Hagemann 6-11 2-3 14, Abbey Kimball 2-6 0-0 6, Moira Joyner 3-13 2-2 10, Julia Ayrault 7-12 0-0 16, Tory Ozment 5-8 0-0 10, Theryn Hallock 4-7 0-0 9. Totals 31-67 4-5 73.

IOWA (76): Hannah Stuelke 7-11 1-4 15, Molly Davis 2-3 4-5 8, Kate Martin 3-8 0-0 6, Caitlin Clark 14-34 4-4 40, Gabbie Marshall 1-6 0-0 3, Sydney Affolter 1-4 2-2 4, Sharon Goodman 0-1 0-0 0, Kylie Feuerbach 0-0 0-0 0, Addison O’Grady 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 11-15 76.

Michigan State 17 20 18 18 — 73

Iowa 25 10 20 21 — 76

3-point goals: MSU 7-21 (Tate 0-3, Hagemann 0-1, Kimball 2-3, Joiner 2-5, Ayrault 2-6, Ozment 0-1, Hallock 1-2), Iowa 9-30 (Davis 0-1, Martin 0-3, Clark 8-20, Marshall 1-6). Team fouls: MSU 15, Iowa 10. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: MSU 39 (Tate, Ayrault, Ozment 8), Iowa 38 (Martin 11). Assists: MSU 12 (Hagemann 4), Iowa 14 (Clark 5). Steals: MSU 9 (three with 2), Iowa 9 (Stuelke, Clark 3). Turnovers: MSU 15, Iowa 13.

Attendance: 14,998.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com