Caitlin Clark is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history, for men or women, and she added 29 points to her tally on Saturday in Iowa's dominant 89-68 win over Colorado in the Sweet 16. But while she's a legendary scorer with unique range, Clark is the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft because she's also an elite passer.
Her playmaking chops stole the show against Colorado, as she dished out 15 assists, the most she's ever had in a NCAA Tournament game. "It's just amazing," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said of Clark's passing during her in-game interview. "How she finds people in transition, she's just unbelievable."
With Clark's latest brilliant performance in the books, let's rank her 15 assists.
1. Thread-the-needle pass to Hannah Stuelke: 0:00, 1st quarter
This was a stunning display of vision and passing accuracy. With time winding down in the first quarter, Clark spots the space behind the defense and leads Stuelke right to the rim with a perfect bounce pass. Just a truly incredible find.
2. Thread-the-needle pass to Sydney Affolter: 9:18, 3rd quarter
Clark showed off her precision in the third quarter while leading the fastbreak. Affolter, a favorite target in this game, was running the floor hard and Clark dropped a bounce pass right between two defenders that hit in her stride.
3. Hit ahead pass to Sydney Affolter: 2:04, 2nd quarter
Clark creates so many baskets that really shouldn't be there in transition. This was one of the best of the day, as she caught Colorado jogging back up the floor after scoring themselves, and put the ball where only Affolter could catch it.
4. Backdoor feed to Sydney Affolter -- 5:35, 1st quarter
This is a great example of how Clark can take advantage of the attention she draws. As she drives, Quay Miller zeroes in on the ball and loses track of Affolter, who cuts to the basket and scores off the backdoor feed.
5. Hook pass to Kate Martin: 8:46, 3rd quarter
Clark does take her fair share of shots, but she's more than willing to get her teammates involved when that's the right play, as it was here in the third quarter. After drawing multiple defenders, Clark finds Martin for a 3 with a hook pass.
6. Hit ahead pass to Sydney Affolter: 4:51, 1st quarter
Here's Clark's in transition with a long-range feed to Affolter. Colorado has three defenders back behind the ball, but it doesn't matter because Clark is able to split them and hit Affolter in stride so she can go right to the rim.
7. Drive and kick to Kate Martin: 0:47, 1st quarter
Clark takes advantage of the cross-match in transition here to easily get into the lane and collapse the defense. From there, it's a simple kick-out pass to Martin for a 3.
8. Drop-off pass to Hannah Stuelke: 7:08, 1st quarter
Clark comes off the screen, hesitates to freeze the defense, then gets into the lane and draws the big to leave Stuelke all alone. This is a smart drop-off pass, but nothing special by Clark's standards.
9. Drop-off pass to Hannah Stuelke: 9:02, 2nd quarter
This was one of the easiest buckets Clark and Iowa scored all day. Colorado's Jaylyn Sherrod got her feet tangled up and crashed to the floor, leaving Clark all alone in the lane. From there, it was a practice-level drop-off to Stuelke.
10. Hit ahead pass to Sydney Affolter: 1:08, 3rd quarter
As the Hawkeyes were pulling away for good in the third quarter, Clark created another easy layup by feeding Affolter on the fastbreak.
11. Inbounds pass to Jada Gyamfi: 2:29, 4th quarter
It's unclear why Clark was still in the game at this point, but she took advantage to rack up another assist with a pinpoint inbounds pass to Gyamfi, who did the rest of the work for her first points of the tournament.
12. Drop-off to AJ Ediger: 6:30, 4th quarter
On this possession in the middle of the fourth, Clark decided to give the ball up early and cut to the basket. She got it right back in the middle of the floor, where she was able to read the defense and slip a bounce pass to Ediger.
13. Swing pass to Gabbie Marshall: 9:14, 4th quarter
Early in the fourth quarter, Colorado was still in the zone, which Clark picked apart easily by swinging the ball to Marshall on the wing for an open 3.
14. Zone buster to Kate Martin: 4:13, 3rd quarter
Colorado switched to a zone in the second half to try and confuse Iowa, but Clark and co. carved it up by making smart passes like this one.
15. Inbounds pass to Kate Martin: 8:40, 1st quarter
OK, technically this is an assist because Martin takes two or fewer dribbles before scoring, but Martin did all the work here.
Clark's 15 assists were also a program record for an NCAA Tournament game. While she set the table, her teammates had to convert, and she made sure to give them their due after the game. "Those are tough passes to catch and handle, and finish more than anything," Clark said. "I'm just proud of them. You don't get an assist if your teammate doesn't make the basket."
