When Caitlin Clark scores 40-plus points in a game, the basketball world pays attention. Watching her go on high-volume scoring sprees and putting up shots from the Iowa Hawkeyes logo is undeniably exciting.

For spectators, anyway. Not for Clark.

The junior guard doesn’t like looking at a box score and seeing more than 40 points by her name. She knows it’s not a recipe for success. Because when Clark has to contribute such insane scoring numbers, it means the rest of her team is cold. And when No. 10 Iowa doesn’t have balance, the Hawkeyes don’t win.

“I think whenever I score 40 points, we lose,” Clark told reporters after a 94-81 loss to NC State. “So it’s not something I want to do.”

In the five games during her career where Clark has scored 40-plus points, the Hawkeyes are 2-3.

CAITLIN CLARK RANGEEEE pic.twitter.com/l7ZIn4DhQS

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) December 2, 2022

Against No. 12 NC State on Thursday night, Clark finished with 45 points on 16-28 shooting, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. The next highest scorer for Iowa was McKenna Warnock with 15 points. The rest of the starters combined for 12 total points, and second-leading scorer Monika Czinano finished with 5. 

That, combined with a poor defensive-showing was too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome, despite Clark’s heroic performance.

The Wolfpack shot 55.4% from the field, including 53.8% from beyond the arc. And while Iowa struggled to find offense outside of Clark, NC State had a balanced scoring effort.

Saniya Rivers and Diamond Johnson led with 22 points apiece, with Rivers having a breakout game. The sophomore, who transferred in from South Carolina after being the No. 3 recruit her freshman season, recorded her career high. Heading into Thursday’s contest, her previous high stood at 9, and she was averaging 8.9 points per game.

The Wolfpack also had double-digit scoring efforts from Jakia Brown-Turner (17), Jada Boyd (12) and Camille Hobby (10).

Can’t win alone 🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

What a night for our PACK. pic.twitter.com/l0OjvwExbG

— #10 NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) December 2, 2022

NC State’s 94 points is their second-most on the season. The Wolfpack had 96 in a win over Charlotte on Nov. 16.

This was NC State’s first top-25 win of the season, and Iowa’s third loss of the year, with two coming to top-25 teams and one coming at the hands of unranked Kansas State. For the Hawkeyes, it was yet another game with the same problems: lack of defense from the whole team, and lack off offense from everyone other than Clark. 

The team generally can count on Czinano, as she averaged 17.2 points heading into Thursday’s contest. The fifth-year senior’s 5 points are the least she’s scored since a January 2022 contest in which she had 4 against Michigan State. The Hawkeyes struggled to get the ball inside, and Czinano finished with just 4 shot attempts. 

ICE IN HER VEINS. @Ihoop___22 answers Iowa's first three of the half with one of her own.

🐺 63
🟡 51
:35, 3Q pic.twitter.com/Ozx7I338eS

— #10 NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) December 2, 2022

“I don’t know why we couldn’t get her the ball tonight, honestly,”coach Lisa Bluder told reporters. “They were on her back. I mean, why can’t we pass a ball to a post when the post defense is on her back? It’s maddening.”

The loss to NC State marks Iowa’s second defeat in a row. The Hawkeyes fell to UConn 86-79 on Nov. 27, but the result felt much different. In that contest, Iowa put together a better team showing. Clark led with 25 points, Kate Martin had 20, Warnock had 14, Gabbie Marshall added 10, and Czinano had 8. 

Defensively, they also put together a better showing.

“I thought our defense was pretty good against UConn,” Clark told reporters on Thursday. “But then we come here on our home floor, and it wasn’t good at all. And that’s the reason we lost. It wasn’t anything other than that.”

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.