Iowa women's basketball overcomes gauntlet of pressure, attention to reach Final Four

Caitlin Clark's first taste of March Madness was a semi-private affair.

COVID restrictions kept the crowd for Iowa's 2021 first-round game against Central Michigan to a bare minimum. Only close family and a bunch of cardboard cutouts were sprinkled around San Antonio's vast Alamodome. One of the cutouts was Clark's dog, Bella.

Three years later, Clark is the face of women's college basketball ... if not college basketball, period. Fans pack opposing arenas to see the NCAA's career scoring leader. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Friday's national semifinal against Connecticut at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse could fill a dome in Brook Park.

"I feel like it's so crazy when you think about Caitlin's first year," Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder said Monday.

Thanks to Clark's popularity, interest in women's college basketball has never been higher. According to ESPN, Monday's regional final between Iowa and defending champion LSU drew a record 12.3 million viewers for a women's game. The network also reported it was the most-bet women's game ever at sportsbooks across the country.

Bluder thinks increased media coverage has a hand in the spike of women's basketball interest. She doesn't think it will suffer after Clark's Iowa career ends.

"When nobody knows about you, it's hard to get fan support, it's hard to get enthusiasm behind your program," Bluder said. "Because we are on national television now, because we are in the spotlight more as a sport, as women's basketball, people are talking about it. People are recognizing how good of a game it is. People get to know these stars.

"I think the trajectory of women's basketball is going to keep going. There are so many bright stars in this game."

Clark's star is shining brightest, especially in her home state. The Hawkeyes played an October exhibition game against DePaul at Iowa's football stadium. The game drew an NCAA women's basketball record 55,646 fans.

Iowa won't be fazed by the national spotlight this weekend. After playing inside sold-out arenas and stadiums all year, the Hawkeyes dealt with a gauntlet of pressure just to reach the Final Four. The final step was overcoming last year's national championship game loss to LSU.

"People thought we had a lot of pressure coming in," Bluder said. "People kept telling me, 'This is so hard. Your season is going to be so hard.'

"Billie Jean King is one of my idols. She has a book, 'Pressure is a Privilege.' I've used that book this year. She wrote that on a piece of paper. It's framed in my locker room for me.

"We believe that pressure is a really good thing because that means you've done some pretty special things to have pressure on you."

Clark and the Hawkeyes are aware of what lies ahead in Cleveland.

Eleven-time national champion Connecticut is women's college basketball's most successful program. The Huskies are one of the few teams that developed a national following before Clark came to Iowa.

If the Hawkeyes overcome UConn, top-ranked South Carolina or North Carolina State would await them in Sunday's championship game. Iowa ended South Carolina's unbeaten run at last year's Final Four.

"You got four great programs coming to the Final Four," Bluder said.

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: NCAA March Madness part of madness for Caitlin Clark, Iowa Hawkeyes