The Iowa women's basketball team suffered its fourth loss on the season Thursday night, when they were defeated on the road 86-69 by Indiana.
Indiana emphasized physicality all game long — which caused Caitlin Clark to break her usually calm demeanor and have a heated exchange with an opponent after one particularly physical play.
The moment occurred in the second quarter, as Clark was attempting to dribble inside the paint when Indiana guard Yarden Garzon drew a foul in an attempt to block her shot.
While the foul didn't seem particularly hard, it was still an easy call for referees to make. Yet, Garzon reacted with a palms up gesture, seeming to signal that she didn't think it was a foul — which prompted Clark to turn in Garzon's direction and send a few frustrated words her way.
Garzon responded with words of her own while Clark was walking away and preparing to shoot her free throws.
Considering that Clark usually shoots 86% from the free throw line, her two missed free throws right after the exchange with Garzon would suggest that she was still upset about the back and forth. Here's a look at the play, which starts at 21:59:
In fact, the entire night was a frustrating one for Clark, as she finished the game with 24 points on 8-26 shooting and 3-16 from three-point range (although she did finish just one assist short of a triple double).
Clark also scored just four points in the entire second half — which prompted reporters to ask her about how Indiana managed to contain her better than most teams, during Clark's postgame press conference.
I asked Caitlin Clark what #iuwbb did well against her tonight, especially in the second half where she was held to just four points. pic.twitter.com/qqSt2zgRrR
— Talia Goodman (@goodmansport) February 23, 2024
"I think being physical," Clark answered. "[Indiana] threw a lot of different people at me. Yeah, but, just very physical. I think that was the main thing. Kind of pushed me off my spots and got me deeper than I wanted to be."
Later on in the press conference, another reporter asked Clark about the exchange with Garzon — which Clark brushed off by saying, "basketball is competitive. That's what it's all about... Women's basketball should be heated. It should be that way."
Regardless of whether Indiana's antics disrupted Clark's flow or if it was just an off game for the NCAA's all time leading female scorer, we expect she'll rebound in a big way against Illinois on Sunday.
