The only thing left for Caitlin Clark to accomplish in her record-setting collegiate career is to become a national champion. That quest begins March 22-23 when her Iowa Hawkeyes open play in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Hawkeyes (30-4) figure to be a No.1 seed when the tournament committee sets the brackets and announces the first pairings during its selection show on March 17. Iowa is trying to return to the national championship game where it lost to Louisiana State University, 102-85, last year despite 30 points from the sharp-shooting Ms. Clark.

“Honestly, whether they give us the one seed or give us the two seed, I don’t think it really matters a ton,” Mr. Clark said after Iowa captured its third-straight Big Ten Championship on Sunday with a 94-89 triumph in overtime over Nebraska. “You get what you get, and you’d better be ready to come out and fight every single night. That’s just what it is.”

Ms. Clark gets a well-deserved breather before the pressure cooker of the NCAA Tournament begins. She has been through a historic stretch of games where every basket has been meaningful.

On February 15, Ms. Clark  became the all-time leading NCAA women’s basketball Division I scorer, passing former Washington star Kelsey Plum. She then passed former Kansas star Lynette Woodard’s all-time women’s scoring record dating back to the oldAssociation for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. On March 3, Ms. Clark eclipsed LSU’s Peter “Pistol Pete” Maravich to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I, regardless of gender. She also broke former Davidson shooter Steph Curry’s NCAA record for most 3-pointers in a single season.

Ms. Clark, who has announced she will forgo her final year of college eligibility to enter the 2024 WNBA Draft, prepares for her final NCAA Tournament having scored 3,737 career points, including 1,020 this season. She is the first Division I player to record 3,600-plus points, 1,000-plus assists, and 850-plus rebounds in a career. The recent Big Ten Tournament wasn’t her best performance, though she displayed her brilliance in the end.

Overall, in the tournament  she converted 40 percent  from the field where she shot 46 percent for the season, and was just 26 percent from three-point range, compared to 38 percent in 2023-2024.  

In the quarterfinal game of the Big Ten Tournament, she missed her first 11 shots against Penn State from 3-point range, and in the championship game against Nebraska, she had just four points in the first half, shooting 2-of-13 from the field and 0-for-9 from long-distance.

Ms. Clark was a force down the stretch, however. Iowa outscored Nebraska 10-2 over the final two and a half minutes of regulation with Ms. Clark scoring or assisting on every basket. She finished with 34 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds to win the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award.

Ms. Clark “didn’t have a very good first half,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said after the game. “You can maybe keep Caitlin down for a half. You’re not keeping her down the whole game. There’s no way.”

The Big Ten Championship was played in front of a sold-out crowd at the Target Center, a sign of the growing popularity of women’s basketball and the intrigue around Ms. Clark. She has national advertising campaigns with State Farm, Nike, Bose Corporation, Gatorade, Buick, and H&R Block. 

The hardwood star  also recently signed an exclusive multi-year contract with Panini, the sports and entertainment collectibles company. Iowa’s appearances in the NCAA Women’s Tournament is likely to draw huge ratings during March Madness. 

‘I think what we’re doing for women’s basketball is tremendous,” Ms. Clark said, adding, “When you’re given an opportunity and put on this stage, people show up, and people want to pay attention. I think you’re especially seeing that in women’s basketball. You’re seeing that with our team, and we never take that for granted.”

Winning a championship is no lock. South Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State, UCLA, and defending national champion LSU are among the top contenders, but fans will be on upset watch throughout the tournament. The Final Four begins April 5 at the Rocket Mortgage Field House at Cleveland, with the national championship game set for April 7.

“I know in the back of my mind this could be my last game every single time I step on the court from here on out,” Ms. Clark said. “If I think like that, I’m not going to pay my best basketball. I’m thinking we’ve got another game after this. We’ve got to win. We’ve got to move on, and just focus one day at a time and enjoy every single second.”