The No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes secured a huge home upset of the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, but the high-profile Big Ten matchup will be remembered for a wild injury after the game finished.
Buckeyes fans rushed the court following the upset, and one of them blindsided star Iowa guard Caitlin Clark. The fan kept running while clearly filming on their phone while Clark remained on the ground and was tended to by trainers.
Caitlin Clark injury after the Ohio State game… pic.twitter.com/uLwtBmxF99
— DadsDontPlay (@Dadsdontplay) January 21, 2024
Clark is considered the best women’s college basketball player, and losing her for any amount of time would be a huge loss for the Hawkeyes. She finished Sunday’s game with 45 points, seven assists and three rebounds. Luckily, Iowa’s next game isn’t until January 27 when they welcome Nebraska to Iowa City, so she at least has six days to try and rest up.
Reports from the game are that Clark had to be helped off the court and that she was in a lot of pain and/or distress. It’s tough to tell from the video what the injury could be, but we will likely get updates from head coach Lisa Bluder. This will be a situation to watch as a big injury to a star athlete could help support banning storming the court as a whole.
Update: Clark said in her postgame interview that she had the wind knocked out of her, but said she is fine after getting blindsided by the fan.