Caitlin Clark advances to Iowa Big Ten Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA Division I record for men’s or women’s 3-pointers made in a season, finishing with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists on a poor shooting night to lift Iowa past Penn State for No. 4. 95-62 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

Clark missed his first 11 3-point attempts and finally connected in the fourth quarter. It was his 163rd 3-pointer of the season, surpassing Davidson’s Stephen Curry (2007-08) and Liberty’s Darius McGhee (2022-23) for most by a DI player.

Clark, who has already surpassed Pete Maravich as the DI’s all-time leading scorer, finished 2 of 14 from long range and 5 of 19 from the field. But Iowa (27-4) still had little trouble against Penn State (19-12), leading 31-14 after the first quarter with Clark contributing just four free throws.

“I think as a shooter sometimes you can feel like it’s wrong, but honestly I felt like most of my shots were right there,” Clark said. “I think that’s the most positive thing. I thought a lot of them would get in but sometimes it was a little short, sometimes it was a little long.

The second-seeded Hawkeyes moved ahead to face the winner of Indiana-Michigan in the semifinals on Saturday.

Sydney Affolter broke her career high with 18 points and 9 rebounds for Iowa. Gabbie Marshall scored 15 points, Taylor McCabe had 12 points and Kate Martin had 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Leilani Kapinus led Penn State in seventh place with 19 points, while Ashley Owusu played with 18 points.

“Our game plan was to get Caitlin out of her rhythm and hope her role players stayed in check, and they stepped up in a big way tonight,” Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger said. “So I congratulate them.”

Clark, the nation’s leading scorer with an average of 32.3 points, made his first shot (a mid-range shot) early in the second quarter. It was his only basket of the half, but he made eight of nine free throws before halftime, making 12 of 13 free throws overall.

He was held without a three-pointer just once in his college career. Clark went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc, but scored 24 points in a win over Purdue on Jan. 13, 2022.

Affolter (3-for-4 from 3), Marshall (4-for-7) and McCabe (4-for-8) made up for Clark’s misfires from beyond the arc.

“I’m so glad her teammates have filled the void in that area,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “That gives us a lot more confidence going forward and makes it a lot harder to defend when we play like we did tonight.”

As Iowa took a 10-0 lead, Martin and Affolter started the match with 3-pointers.

The Nittany Lions cut Iowa’s lead to single digits just after the first quarter. An 11-2 run put Penn State within 33-24. However, Iowa scored the next nine points to regain control.

“Every time Penn State went on a run, our group always had an answer, and I think that’s extremely positive,” Clark said. “That’s what you need for March basketball.”

With Ohio State dropping out of the tournament after losing to Maryland in the quarterfinals, the path to a second straight Big Ten Tournament championship is wide open for the Hawkeyes. But they won’t be caught looking too far ahead.

“Our group is experienced enough to understand how these tournaments go,” Clark said. “We were on the losing side of March Madness, and I think we know better than to take things for granted.”

Michigan 69, Indiana 56

Laila Phelia scored 20 of her career-high 30 points in the second half as the sixth-seeded Wolverines erased a 17-point deficit and pulled away from the third-seeded and 12th-seeded Hoosiers.

Michigan (20-12) will face No. 3 seed Iowa and Caitlin Clark in Saturday’s semifinals. The Wolverines lost 106-89 in their only regular-season game at Iowa on Feb. 15, and Clark scored 49 points to become the NCAA women’s career scoring leader.

The Hoosiers were mostly without leading scorer and rebounder Mackenzie Holmes, who suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s regular-season finale against Maryland. He was dressed for the game but was on the bench as his teammates took a 35-21 lead at halftime.

Yarden Garzon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, giving Indiana (24-5) the biggest lead of 17. That’s when Phelia rallied the Wolverines, scoring 10 points in the period to cut the deficit to three and then adding 10 more points. Michigan finished fourth when it outscored Indiana 29-13.

Maryland 82, Ohio State 61

Shyanne Sellers had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Terrapins to a victory over the fourth-seeded and regular-season champion Buckeyes.

Brinae Alexander and Jakia Brown-Turner scored 19 points, and Faith Masonius added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland (19-12). -Big bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m telling you right now: The Maryland team you saw in March is not the same team you saw in the beginning,” Sellers said. “I think we’ve proven that.”

Maryland will play Nebraska on Saturday afternoon, with the Terrapins advancing to the semifinals for the ninth time in 10 years. Nebraska and Michigan State hit the court for a quarterfinal matchup just after the Terrapins avenged their two regular-season losses against Ohio State.

Nebraska 73, Michigan State 61

Alexis Markowski scored 22 points and 12 rebounds, Natalie Potts played with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the fifth-place Cornhuskers defeated the 4-seed Spartans.

The Cornhuskers (21-10) moved on to face Maryland, the No. 8 seed, which beat No. 4 seed Ohio State 82-61 earlier Friday. Nebraska defeated Maryland 87-81 on December 31.

For Nebraska, Jaz Shelley scored 17 points and 7 assists, and Logan Nissley scored 13 points.

Julia Ayrault scored 25 points and was the only Spartan (22-8) in double figures on a team where five players had double-digit averages.