One of the great things about cheering for the women's BB team is they pretty much always meet or beat season expectations. And I would say globally, that 2021-2022 season exceeded expectations (earned a #2 seed, won the B1G tournament). But that is the only season I can recall where the final finish (i.e., NCAA tournament performance) fell well short of expectations.
Creighton was a bad matchup for us, as their small-ball somewhat neutralized our Czinano advantage (Czinano did work on the offensive end with 12/20 shooting for 27 points, but she was being abused on the defensive end). The team hadn't yet developed the ability to go small.
Clark wasn't yet mentally tough enough to deal with the relentless attention and physicality that teams were going to send her way in big games and big moments. She got flustered by officiating, and she focused too much on exaggerating contact instead of playing through contact. She shot 4/19.
The rest of the team hadn't fully figured out how to play with Clark. As much as Clark opens up for other players, it takes a certain mental toughness to play with her. Clark wears her emotions on her sleeve, and she will let you know if she is upset with something you do on the floor. It is also easy to get caught "Clark watching", or to be scared to shoot with the full realization that every shot you take is a shot Clark isn't taking. The players other than Czinano and Clark shot 9/32.
Even so, the team fought and had the lead most of the 4th quarter. They collapsed in the last 90 seconds (Creighton outscored them 6-0), and then Czinano missed a bunny at the buzzer after a beautifully conceived sideline OOB play.
View attachment 11167
Creighton had already beaten #7 Colorado in round 1, and they went on to beat #3 Iowa State by 8 points in the sweet 16. They were salty.
It was pretty much a perfect storm for Iowa, but it led to many important developments.
Clark got tougher, both physically and mentally.
The players around Clark got tougher (especially Martin and Marshall...Czinano was already a team leader, and Warnock was always a dawg).
As a team, Iowa developed a better response to small ball (starting with Stuelke-at-the-5 lineups the following year).
Over the subsequent 2 seasons, they were 10-4 in games decided by 5 points or less, and they were 16-2 in tournament games (undefeated in B1G tournament, 10-2 in NCAA). There were also numerous tough games that were 40-minute battles, and Iowa just pulled away with toughness at the end for a comfortable victory.
And Clark was a killer in the biggest moments through all of it. For as gaudy as her overall stats are, my guess is her splits from top-25 matchups and tournament games are even more impressive.
Pain is a great teacher and motivator.
