Iowa vs. Louisville NCAA women’s basketball Elite Eight box score, highlights, live updates recap

SEATTLE — On her biggest stage yet, in her biggest game yet, Caitlin Clark was at her best ever.

Clark recorded the first 30-point triple-double in NCAA women’s basketball tournament history, and took it even further than that.

She collected 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, leading Iowa to the NCAA women’s basketball Final Four. The third-ranked Hawkeyes whipped Louisville, 97-83, in the Seattle Region 4 final Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena.

The Hawkeyes (30-6) reached the 30-win plateau for the first time in school history and advanced to the Final Four for the second.

They’ll face No. 1 South Carolina (35-0) or No. 6 Maryland (28-6) in a national semifinal at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Friday.

McKenna Warnock added 17 points, Gabbie Marshall 14.

Iowa’s magical time, as it was in the previous round against Colorado, came early in the third quarter.

Louisville (26-12) scored the first two baskets of the second half, but Warnock outfought everybody under the glass for a loose ball, then located Marshall alone on the perimeter, and Marshall drilled the 3-pointer.

Warnock scored inside on the next possession, then Clark converted from outside to make it 56-47 and induce a Cardinals timeout.

Marshall hit another long ball to extend the margin to 59-47, and suddenly, Dallas didn’t seem so far away.

The Hawkeyes put it away with a 11-0 run late in the quarter and took a 78-59 advantage to the fourth.

Iowa led by as many as 22 points on two occasions.

Clark was named the regional’s Most Outstanding Player.

— Jeff Linder

Iowa vs. Louisville live updates recap