MINNEAPOLIS — The country’s biggest star was hiding in plain sight.
She was sandwiched between teammates, shielded by empty rows of seats. When her head wasn’t buried in her phone, it was under the hood of her gray sweatshirt.
Then, the secret got out.
Caitlin Clark laughed with embarrassment when she was shown on the Target Center jumbotron. She laughed constantly, chatting with her friends, as Penn State and Wisconsin faced off in front of her.
How else would a lioness look upon a three-legged gazelle?
Following an 80-56 win over Wisconsin, the seventh-seeded Nittany Lions’ NCAA Tournament hopes likely hinge on beating second-seeded Iowa for the first time in more than seven years in Friday’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Iowa (26-4) won the lone meeting during the regular season, 111-93, in which Clark had 27 points and 15 assists, while setting up teammate Hannah Stuelke for 47 points.
In five matchups against Penn State, Clark has averaged 25.8 points, 12.8 assists and seven rebounds, while the Hawkeyes have won by an average of 29.8 points per game.
“It’s funny because, obviously, she’s the best scorer in college basketball history, and the crazy thing is people don’t talk about her passing enough,” Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger said. “She’s got phenomenal vision. She sees plays before they happen. She’s thinking two steps ahead.”
Under Kieger, Penn State has defended the star guard about as well as any Big Ten team.
In two of their five meetings, Clark wasn’t Iowa’s leading scorer.
In the Feb. 8 matchup in Iowa City, Clark went 8-for-23 from the field, with a career-high 12 turnovers.
“I thought we did a good job last game with our high hands when she had 12 turnovers, so we’re gonna have to repeat that and shake things up, throw different bodies at her, longer defenders, switching, doubles,” Kieger said. “Caitlin’s Caitlin, right? You have to do different schemes. I don’t think you can go into it with one scheme to play. You’re gonna have to have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, sometimes [Plan] D, all the way down, to try and stop her.
“It’s a phenomenal opportunity for us.”