After setting ratings records in back-to-back games, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes figured to make a little more history on Sunday afternoon when they took on the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks for the national championship on ABC. A rematch of last year’s Final Four thriller that went Iowa’s way pit the biggest player against the best team in the women’s game, and the sports world was locked in for the 3 p.m. ET tip in Cleveland.
As she usually does, Clark rose to the moment in the early going, scoring 18 first quarter points to give Iowa an early advantage, pulling up from deep and giving the Gamecocks defense some fits in the first 10 minutes.
IOWA 10-0 RUN TO START THE 1ST pic.twitter.com/EjECIxqOgJ
— ESPN (@espn) April 7, 2024
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN
13 points in the first quarter for @CaitlinClark22. #WFinalFour x ABC / @IowaWBB pic.twitter.com/JG2jkaNgEF
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 7, 2024
18 FIRST QUARTER POINTS FOR CAITLIN CLARK
The most points ever in any quarter of a championship game pic.twitter.com/dp5WtpZjnt
— ESPN (@espn) April 7, 2024
Among those dialed in for the game was LeBron James, who was wowed by Clark’s early effort like everyone else and decided to let folks know that not rocking with Clark’s game just makes you a “flat out hater.”
If you don’t rock with Caitlin Clark game you’re just a FLAT OUT HATER!!!!! Stay far away from them people!! PLEASE
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 7, 2024
Clark has found herself as the leading topic of conversation of late, not just in the women’s basketball space but the sports world as a whole, which has brought an awful lot of takes with it. Some of those, unsurprisingly, have been folks looking to poke holes in her game. While Clark seems fine shrugging those off, she can take a bit of solace in knowing she has a big fan in the biggest name in all of basketball — who also knows a thing or two about dealing with that level of attention.