The GOAT watched Sydney Affolter take the bull by the horns in Iowa’s 2nd-round NCAA win

IOWA CITY — Caitlin Clark had her arms in the air and yelled “Syd! Syd!”

Gabbie Marshall had just blocked a 3-point try by West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly with the game tied at 52 and 2:12 left. Sydney Affolter, the Iowa junior who became a starter five games ago because Molly Davis has been out with a knee injury, caught the carom of Marshall’s block in the West Virginia free throw lane.

The Hawkeyes opened the fourth quarter with a 48-38 lead in the NCAA tournament game Monday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but hadn’t made a basket in the entire quarter when Marshall made that block. At 52-52, it needed a bucket of any kind, any way.

Affolter dribbled across midcourt on the right side, checked tightly by Kyah Watson. Clark, the nation’s No. 1 scorer, was across the court from her with her arms in the air, open and calling for the ball. Yes, if ever there were a time for a Caitlin Clark moment in this game, the time was at hand.

“Syd! Syd!”

But Affolter kept the ball and kept going, spinning to the left and then powering down the middle of Iowa’s lane toward the hoop. Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen loved the confidence.

“She takes that drive, waves Caitlin off,” Jensen said. “Being able to go ‘Uh uh, you might be the GOAT, but I see a seam, too, and I’m going.’”

“I know how good of a driver I am,” Affolter said. “The best time to drive is when someone’s all up in your face.”

The Mountaineers were in Hawkeye faces all night long. The defense they played muted Iowa’s patented transition offense. It shut off cutters while sticking to Clark at the same time.

Iowa had to win by playing West Virginia’s tenacious game for 40 minutes, and did with some of the best defense this program has ever played in a big game. This wasn’t the 93-points-per-game offense, this was one that had to labor all night.

This was Clark scoring more of her 32 points on drives and free throws than 3-pointers. But she was 0-of-6 from the field in the fourth period. Somebody had to make a basket and push the Mountaineers back.

Affolter laid the ball off the left side of the glass and into the basket, fouled by Watson in the bargain. She pumped a fist, stomped her feet, and welcomed Marshall, who ran to her to roaring as loud as any of the 14,324 fans who were yelling their heads off.

That basket turned the game in Iowa’s favor for keeps, and the final was 64-54. It’s on to New York state to play Colorado Saturday afternoon in the Sweet 16.

“We needed momentum on our side,” Marshall said. “I could just see it in her eyes that she was going to go downhill and she was going to score that thing.

“I think she’s so strong. People don’t realize how strong she is, and she’s really hard to guard when she goes downhill.”

Affolter has been the veritable Swiss Army knife of the Hawkeyes, playing shooting guard, small forward, power forward. She has averaged almost seven rebounds in 23 minutes per game. She is second on her team in steals. She makes 3-pointers.

She does winning things with a winning mentality. She could have played 30-35 minutes a game and averaged big numbers somewhere else. She said Sunday that “I always think that the grass might not always be greener somewhere else.”

“When she’d get in she’s like ‘I’m ready. I’ve been ready for this moment. It’s what I wanted,’” Jensen said.

“It’s everything that’s right about a paying her dues and trusting the process and believing in why we wanted her off the bench.”

“I thought Sydney played her heart out tonight,” Clark said.

You get the sense Affolter had swagger before playing three years with the queen of that quality, Clark. Going to the hole to make the game’s biggest basket took confidence and a little cheekiness.

“I think fans and media and other people are now just seeing that from me,” Affolter said, “but I know I’ve been so capable. I’ve been that type of player for so long. And I’m glad I get to do that for this team. I think my teammates and my coaches believed that all season long.”

This tournament is hard. West Virginia was good.

“Really good,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said.

The Hawkeyes persevered. It would have been too soon to stop here. Albany in March actually sounds good, doesn’t it?

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