Iowa star Caitlin Clark achieved her fifth triple-double of the season and 16th of her career in the Hawkeyes’ 101-85 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini, scoring 24 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. 

The win was a much-needed bounceback for the Hawkeyes after a disappointing 86-69 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers a few days ago.

Iowa recently imprinted Clark’s name and number over the spot where she took the shot that earned her the women’s basketball point-scoring record at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena against Michigan.

Her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, reposted the picture of the decal memorializing Clark’s historic scoring record on his Instagram stories.

After the game, Caitlin Clark was typically modest about the gesture during her postgame news conference.

“I didn’t really see it until I came out to warm up,” Clark said. “I knew, because Coach [Lisa] Bluder had told me about it. It’s cool.

Honestly, it seems a bit further back than where I actually shot it from, but that’s where they claim I shot it from.

“It’s super special; that’s something I’ll always remember and a shot I’ll always remember. I’m thankful for this university and the athletic department that wanted to do that; they didn’t have to do that.”

Caitlin Clark talks about importance of every player after bounce-back win

Caitlin Clark might have registered 24 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists during her team’s 86-69 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, but she did not receive much help from her teammates on that front.

After the game against Illinois, she explained how they remedied that against Illinois.

“That’s what we’re going to need going forward. It can’t be one or two people. It’s hard to play box-and-one, it’s hard to play zone when we shoot the ball like this.
“Hopefully, it was just a good learning experience for us at Indiana and showed us things we have to clean up.

Their environment was great, so that could have sped us up, too. So just staying a little more calm,” Caitlin Clark said.

Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder also remarked on the increased shot-making from other players for Iowa.

“I’m really happy with the way we shot the ball from a variety of people,” Bluder said.

“For us to be really successful, that’s what we have to be. We want people to step up because it makes Caitlin’s job easier.”

With only two regular-season games remaining for the Hawkeyes and the NCAA Tournament quickly approaching, Caitlin Clark will need all the support she can get if Iowa is to be successful in the coming weeks.