IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tonight at 8:00PM, the biggest, most important baskteball game for West Virginia in years as the WVU women’s team meets the #1 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament for a spot in the Sweet 16!
Iowa, led by the NCAA’s all-time leader in points, Caitlin Clark, easily handled Holy cross 91-65 in the opening round game last week. Clark, who averages 31.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game for the Hawkeyes this season, had 27 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals in the 1st Round of the tournament.
Last week, when West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg said that he wanted to “win one and send Caitlin Clark packing”, but has since downplayed the comments. “I told them, ‘Let’s win one and let’s send Caitlin Clark packing’,” Kellogg said as the Mountaineers found out that they could potentially face Iowa in the 2nd round.
“I’m not a (trash-talker),” he said. “I wasn’t out to get Caitlin Clark. It’s not Mark Kellogg versus Caitlin Clark. “Our seed is honestly where it started. That wasn’t really the seed maybe that some people in the room were expecting, not even from me necessarily. So it turned into, ‘OK, well, let’s get past that. Now let’s talk about Princeton.’
“Then, of course, everybody in the room knows Caitlin Clark.”
Although West Virginia is a 15.5 point favorite in what is a “home game” for Iowa, the Lady Mountaineers (25-7, 12-6) are one of the best defensive teams in the nation and will focus on stopping or at least limiting Clark. The Mountaineers are led by junior guard JJ Quinerly, who is averaging 19.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Jordan Harrison is the only other player (13.9 points per game) who averages double-digits for the Lady Mountaineers.
West Virginia playing against perhaps the best player in the history of women’s basketball, combined with the backstory with Kellogg and Clark, makes tonight’s 8:00PM matchup must see television!
