By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
Caitlin Clark will be bringing back a lot of hardware from Dallas.
The Iowa guard wants to add a national championship to that.
Clark and the Hawkeyes will play in Sunday’s NCAA Women’s Final Four championship game against LSU. But on Saturday, Clark was named the winner of the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
It’s the second consecutive year Clark has won the award. She became the sixth player to win the award multiple times, joining Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Skylar Diggins, Moriah Jefferson and Sabrina Ionescu.
It’s been a busy awards week for Clark. She was named the winner of the Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy, and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s top player. She is a finalist for the Wooden Award, which will be presented Monday night.
And there’s Iowa’s win over defending national champion South Carolina in Friday’s semifinal.
Now Clark and the Hawkeyes get a chance to play for a title.
“I think winning a national championship is how you put a final bow on it,” Clark said on Saturday. “I think that’s the best way, but we’re going to give it everything we have for 40 more minutes. We know that’s all we have left of our season. That’s all we have left with McKenna (Warnock) and Monika (Czinano), who have given their heart and soul to this program. Mon came back for a fifth year to be in a position like this.
“More than anything, they’re my best friends, and I’m going to be so sad that I don’t get to go back to practice with them. Even though my body hurts, I would give an arm and a leg for those girls.”
Clark’s season has been about big numbers — 1,025 points, 319 assists, 268 rebounds, 132 3-pointers, 57 steals and 20 blocks. She is the first NCAA Division I women’s basketball player to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season.
“She loves the game of basketball,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “It is where she wants to be. It’s in a gym, and the bigger the spotlight, the more fun it is for her.
“Honestly, don’t take your eyes off Caitlin. Nothing surprises me anymore. Honestly, I see it every day in practice. She practices like she plays. You guys, these are things we see every single day. It’s hard to surprise us right now.”
Photo: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was named the winner of the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year award on Saturday. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)