Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark’s true feelings on never winning national title | HO

One of the most legendary college basketball careers — men’s or women’s — has come to an end on Sunday, with Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark never getting a taste of the ultimate indication of success in the amateur ranks. With the Hawkeyes falling prey to Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA women’s national championship game, Clark was denied the perfect ending to her college career.

Caitlin Clark has no peace even in the supermarket, but she still tries to make her fans happy | Marca

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem that Clark will have many sleepless nights over the fact that she never led Iowa women’s basketball to the top of the college world.

Caitlin Clark reacts to failure to win national title with Iowa women’s basketball

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots the ball as South Carolina Gamecocks guard Bree Hall (23) defends during the NCAA Tournament championship basketball game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Sunday, April 7, 2024 in Cleveland.

© Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Following the Hawkeyes’ 87-75 loss to the Gamecocks, Clark said that she would just be fine even without a national title under her belt.

“I’ll be able to sleep every night even though I never won a national championship,” Clark said (h/t Nancy Armour of USA TODAY).

Clark gave it her all for the Hawkeyes, who wouldn’t have come close to a national title game appearance without her in the fold. Against the Gamecocks, Clark led Iowa women’s basketball with 30 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in 40 minutes.

It wasn’t the most efficient shooting performance from Clark, as South Carolina gave her so much defensive attention. She ended up going just 10/28 from the field and 5/13 from the 3-point area, but there shouldn’t be any regret on the part of Iowa in terms of their heavy reliance on Clark.

As a team, the Hawkeyes shot just 39.7 percent from the field, with South Carolina holding Iowa to only 29 rebounds to the Gamecocks’ 51 boards. Winning the possession battle and greatly limiting Iowa’s chances with the ball were major reasons behind South Carolina’s win that capped the Gameocks’ unblemished campaign — and successfully avenged their loss to Clark and the Hawkeyes in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.