Caitlin Clark knew her shot was going at the buzzer even though she launched it of the Hawkeyes logo near the center of the court.
Her coach thought so too.
“Caitlin has ice in her veins,” said Lisa Bluder of Iowa. “Everyone knows.”
Clark proved it again with her long 3-pointer as time expired, giving her 40 points and the No. 4 Hawkeyes a 76-73 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night.
Clark, the nation's leading scorer, was 14 of 34 from the field and went more than 14 minutes without a point in the second and third quarters. The Hawkeyes managed to get her the ball in the final seconds — albeit far from the basket — when Clark took Hannah Stuelke's pass and struck from 30 feet out as the buzzer sounded.
“Honestly, when it left my hand, I knew it was going in,” Clark said.
The Hawkeyes (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to 11 games behind Clark and Stuelke, who had 15 points.
Michigan State (11-3, 1-2) had tied the game at 73 on DeeDee Hagemann's layup with 22 seconds left. After a timeout, the Hawkeyes ran the clock back. Stuelke lost the ball for a moment, but recovered and brought it to Clark.
That bump, Clark said, might have made the difference.
“I think it almost turned out in my favor because my girl (Michigan State's Moira Joiner) almost went for the steal,” Clark said. “I was able to make my step back to the left, which is my favorite shot.”
Clark hit a similar buzzer-beater against Indiana in last year's regular-season finale. This time, she ran to the other side of the field with her arms outstretched as the sold-out crowd celebrated.
“I almost started laughing,” Clark said. “I think everyone was like, 'Oh, thank God, this game is over, we don't have to play overtime.' You know, it was ugly, but it was a win, and that's what it's all about.”
Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick said the Spartans defended well on the last play.
“She made a really hard shot,” Fralick said.
Clark had 19 of Iowa's first 33 points, but went scoreless from the six-minute mark of the second quarter to the 1:32 mark of the third as the Spartans built a six-point lead with 2:23 to go in the third. quarter. She went on to score eight points in a span of 70 seconds, and the teams were tied at 55 at the end of the quarter.
Michigan State opened the game with an 8-0 run that was answered by Iowa's 14-0 run. The Hawkeyes built a 10-point lead late in the first quarter, but their offense struggled afterward. Iowa shot just 25% in the second quarter, and the Spartans closed the half on a 9-0 run to lead 37-35.
“That second quarter was one of the worst I've ever seen in Iowa basketball,” Bluder said. “I was kind of frustrated that we stopped our offense in the second quarter, allowing them to get back into the game.”
Julia Ayrault had 16 points for the Spartans. Hagemann had 14 points. Joiner and Tory Ozment each had 10 points.