Moira Joiner stood on the midcourt logo at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last month, making sure to stay within an arm’s length of Caitlin Clark as the clock ticked down. The Michigan State guard shadowed the nation’s leading scorer, denying the Iowa guard the ball before getting turned around for a split-second. The tiny bit of space allowed Clark to catch a pass from a teammate with a second left and hit a game-winning, step-back three-pointer from the edge of that Hawkeyes logo even though Joiner recovered in time to get a hand in her face.
In a game this week, Northwestern blitzed Clark with a double team that nearly trapped her along the sideline near midcourt with the clock ticking down, but she whipped an overhand hook pass to teammate Hannah Stuelke for a layup.