Creighton Bluejays stun Iowa Hawkeyes in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, hold Caitlin Clark to 15 points

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The first of 16 seeds in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament dropped Sunday despite playing in front of a standing crowd only to cheer on the Division I points leader and assists.

No. 10 seed Creighton was unintimidated by the crowd, No. 2 seed Iowa or star Caitlin Clark, knocking out the Hawkeyes 64-62 in the second round. The Bluejays enter a regional final for the first time in program history, moving to the Sweet 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Hawkeyes are lamenting a rocky end to a season in which they shared the Big Ten regular season title and won the league tournament title.

The Bluejays made it clear they were serious with an 84-74 win over No. 7 seed Colorado on Friday in the first round, and they led for much of Sunday’s game. Iowa got two tying field goals, but both fell short when the bell rang. The Bluejays celebrated with their group of fans dressed in blue surrounded by thousands of disappointed in black and gold at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa’s 62 points were the fewest the Hawkeyes had scored in the past two seasons, in which Clark caused a stir. But on Sunday, she was held to 15 points, passing 4 of 19 from the field, including 0 of 8 in the second half.

Sophomore Lauren Jensen, who played her first season at Iowa last year before her transfer, led Creighton with 19 points, including what turned out to be the game-winning 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.