Nebraska steals Caitlin Clark’s thunder with 82-79 victory over No. 2 Iowa

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska and Iowa fans alike came to Pinnacle Bank Arena hoping to see Caitlin Clark set the NCAA women’s career scoring record on a nationally televised celebration of women’s basketball.

What they saw instead Sunday was a huge performance by the Cornhuskers, who rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat No. 2 Iowa 82-79.

Nebraska (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten) earned its first win over a Top 25 opponent this season and its first over Iowa in 10 tries. A student-led court storming punctuated the afternoon.

Jaz Shelley’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left gave Nebraska its first lead, and she made all four of her free throws to close out the Hawkeyes (22-3, 11-2).

“On a day like today, I’m just so proud to be the head coach at Nebraska and proud of this team and the way they showed great response throughout the fourth quarter and found a way to win,” Cornhuskers coach Amy Williams said.

Clark, who finished with 31 points, was held scoreless over the final 12 1/2 minutes. She missed her last six shots, including a 3 just ahead of the buzzer.

“Just didn’t execute down the stretch. It stinks,” Clark said.

Clark now has 3,520 career points and needs eight more to pass Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527 for Washington from 2013-17. She likely will break the record Thursday at home against Michigan.

Hannah Stuelke’s layup with 9:22 left gave Iowa its biggest lead, at 71-57. The Hawkeyes were outscored 25-8 to end the game.

Shelley, who finished with 23 points including five 3-pointers, gave the Huskers the lead when she launched a 3 from the right corner as the shot clock was winding down.

Clark’s 3-point try nicked off the front of the rim before Shelley made two free throws with 18.1 seconds left. Stuelke scored to make it 80-79, but Shelley hit two more shots from the stripe, and Clark and Kate Martin missed 3s at the end.