Unbelievable: Caitlin Clark Said Choosing Iowa Was The Biggest Mistake She Has Ever Made….

admin | March 20, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Unbelievable: Caitlin Clark Said Choosing Iowa Was The Biggest Mistake She Has Ever Made….

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The queue began at breakfast time, about nine hours before Iowa played in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, when black-and-gold-clad fans with general admission tickets determined to secure the best possible seats started camping out in the skyway outside Target Center

There’s more to the show than just Caitlin Clark, but she sure has brought a crowd as her college career with the third-ranked Hawkeyes winds down.

“It’s just so fun to see, all the excitement even at away games,” said Nicole Moyes, who with her husband David Moyes stood in the front of one of the lines set up outside the doors on Friday morning long before Iowa took the court for the evening session in the tournament quarterfinals.

The Moyeses live in Coralville, just 4 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and have had season tickets for four years — well-timed with the arc of Clark’s career. Before she came, the Moyeses recalled, curtains were pulled down to make the place look and feel less empty.

“You could sit wherever you wanted basically,” Nicole Moyes said.

Tricia Moeller mentioned that, too. She attended six home games this season and made the three-hour drive from the Des Moines area to Minneapolis to meet friend Barb Ernst, an Iowa native now living in Minnesota. Moeller’s black T-shirt read in gold block lettering, “Carver North.”

Iowa women’s basketball has secured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993.

The Hawkeyes will host the first two rounds in their tournament pod. The First Four game will take place on Thursday, March 21, with the first round on March 23, and then the second round on Monday, March 25.

Here is an entire look at Iowa’s region, which is the Albany 2 bracket.

No. 16 Holy Cross: Holy Cross won the Patriot League regular season title, and also took home the conference tournament title this past weekend, taking down Boston University, 61-55, for the second straight year. The Crusaders finished the season with a 20-12 record, while they were 15-2 at home, and then 5-10 on the road. Holy Cross is led by senior guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy, who is averaging 16.6 points per game, while other double-figure scorers are guard Cara McCormack and forward Janelle Allen, who are both averaging just over 10 points per game. The Crusaders are not a great offensive team, as they average just over 62 points per game, but hang their hat on the defensive end.

No. 16 UT-Martin: The Skyhawks started out the season with an 0-6 record, then bounced their way back, finishing the year with a 16-16 record. UT-Martin was blown out by 28 in the OVC title game against Southern Indiana, but the Screaming Eagles are not eligible for the NCAA Tournament due to NCAA program reclassification rules. UT-Martin is led by freshman guard Kenley McCarn in the scoring department as she is putting up 16.7 points per game while sophomore Anaya Brown is second on the team in scoring, putting up 15.1 points per game along with 8.9 rebounds.

No. 8 Princeton: Princeton is 25-4 on the season, with a 13-1 record in the Ivy League. The Tigers won the conference crown by taking down Penn in the semifinals then Columbia. The Tigers have played tough against high-major foes this year, as they lost to UCLA by three in non-conference play in November. Princeton also beat Oklahoma, who is a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, by 14 in November, and lost to Indiana by nine the next game. Princeton also has high-major wins over Seton Hall, Villanova, and Rutgers, with all of its conference wins coming by 10 points or more. The Tigers’ five leading scorers are all guards, with Kaitlyn Chen and Madison St. Rose leading the way. Chen averages 15.8 points and 5.0 assists per game while St. Rose is averaging 14.5 points per contest. Per Her Hoops, Princeton ranks 40th nationally in offensive rating, but is one of the best defensive teams in the country, too, ranking 18th. The Tigers play at a very slow tempo, ranking 332nd in possessions per 40 minutes.

No. 9 West Virginia: The Mountaineers lost in the Big 12 quarterfinals to Kansas State, but have been a competitive team in a tough conference this season. West Virginia is led by star guard JJ Quinerly, who is averaging 19.6 points per game this season. Second on the team in scoring is guard Jordan Harrison, who is averaging 13.8 points and 5.2 assists per game. West Virginia is a solid offensive team, but where the money is made for the Mountaineers is on the defensive end. West Virginia ranks 11th in the country in defensive rating, and a big reason for that is because it is one of the best teams in the country at forcing teams to turn the ball over. West Virginia averages 13.9 steals per game. However, the Mountaineers struggle rebounding the basketball, as they are one of the worst teams in the high-major ranks in that category. On offense, West Virginia is best inside the arc, and also converts at the free throw line.