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.”

The WNBA coaching carousel has come to a standstill, with the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics both finalizing head coaching hires earlier this week.

Dallas GM Curt Miller brought on former Sun, Sparks, and USC assistant coach Chris Koclanes as head coach of the Wings.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Koclanes as the new head coach of the Dallas Wings," said Miller in a team statement. "Throughout our extensive search and interview process, Chris continued to rise to the top and check the boxes of our important pillars. He is a servant leader who places a high value on connection, collaboration, and a positive and consistent communication style with all those he coaches."

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Mystics fill leadership vacancies

The Washington Mystics also made two key hires this week. The team appointed Jamila Wideman to GM and ex-Sky assistant Sydney Johnson​ to head coach.

"I have strong roots in the WNBA and have had the privilege of playing with, working alongside, and witnessing the incredible people who are the athletes at the center of the game," said Wideman afterwards. "The very best I have seen share some core qualities — curiosity, humility, and imagination. I look forward to building a Mystics team in partnership with the players, coaches, and staff that reflects this core."

WNBA teams enter 2025 with full staffs

Barring any unexpected twists, all 13 teams will now have head coaches in place going into the 2025 WNBA Draft and preseason.

Eight teams — including expansion side Golden State — enter 2025 armed with new bosses. Subsequently, seven of those candidates will be making their WNBA head coaching debuts.

Furthermore, Koclanes and Johnson are the third and fourth ex-assistants to get a shot at head coaching next season. The pair follows Natalie Nakase (Golden State) and Tyler Marsh (Chicago).

"Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true," said Nakase. "We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization."

After finishing 2024 in last place, the Houston Dash have been raising eyebrows with a series of offseason moves primed to make a splash next NWSL season.

Houston's top-tier transaction period continued on Thursday, landing Gotham and USWNT forward Yazmeen Ryan for a league-record $400,000 in allocation money plus a 2025 international roster spot.

On Thursday, Gotham confirmed that Ryan had requested the trade, saying the club "worked tirelessly to honor her request." As part of the deal, Gotham also traded $80,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Houston.
 
Ryan joins a growing roster of savvy Dash pick-ups, including fellow Gotham standout Delanie Sheehan and San Diego defender Christen Westphal.

Subsequently, while they've yet to announce a new head coach, Houston has solidified their front office by bringing on ex-Angel City GM Angela Hucles Mangano as president of women's soccer.

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Gotham FC sees mass NWSL exodus

For Gotham, Ryan's departure is just the latest in a high-profile exodus. Sheehan, forward Lynn Williams, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, and defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane Lopez have all left the one-time superteam.

"I don't want to get into everything with the end of Gotham, but I am really excited to be a part of a team that looks like they're just enjoying each other and having fun," Lynn Williams told The Women's Game after her trade to Seattle was made public.

Jonas Eidevall enters NWSL as San Diego boss

The San Diego Wave hired ex-Arsenal manager​ Jonas Eidevall as the NWSL team's new head coach, according to multiple reports released earlier this week. 

Eidevall finished his tenure at Arsenal with an overall record of 80-24-16. However, he stepped down after failing to resign star forward Vivianne Miedema ahead of a sputtering 1-1-2 start to the 2024/25 WSL season​.

Eidevall will be the fourth coach to take the reins in San Diego this year, after Casey Stoney's mid-season firing led to interim stints from Paul Buckle and former USMNT mainstay Landon Donovan​.

San Diego's 2024 tumult wasn't limited to staffing. Founding members like Alex Morgan retired while impact players like Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson departed the club for other opportunities.

Embattled Wave president Jill Ellis also left the team, accepting a new role at FIFA earlier this month.

The Wave and Eidevall will kick off this new chapter seeking stability after a rollercoaster year. As such, both club and coach will bank on a strong 2025 to chart a new course.

No. 7 USC took down No. 4 UConn on Saturday, winning 72-70 in a battle between two bonafide NCAA basketball championship contenders still figuring out a consistent flow of play.

USC led by as many as 18 in the first half. However UConn came storming back, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter before the Trojans outlasted the Huskies to secure the narrow victory.

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JuJu holds on to secure USC win

With UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tight on her heels, USC standout JuJu Watkins registered a game-leading 25 points, alongside six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.

Bueckers and Huskies freshman Sarah Strong split scoring duties for UConn, notching 22 points each with Strong adding 11 rebounds.

After opening the season at No. 2, this highly touted UConn squad has dropped pivotal games against Notre Dame and now USC to go 0-2 in Top 10 matchups. It's a pattern legendary coach Auriemma will hope to correct before the Huskies face their next ranked opponent in early February.

"I thought the execution part in the first half was just as bad as I've seen in a few years here in Connecticut," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said after the loss.

"This is a really significant win, and it's a really significant win because of the stature of UConn's program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Weekend upsets shake top-ranked NCAA basketball teams

Elsewhere, upsets dominated the NCAA basketball conversation this weekend, with Top 25 contenders falling short as this season's undefeated list continues to shrink.

No. 15 Michigan State saw their first loss on Friday, falling to unranked Alabama 82-67 in a low scoring matchup. Afterwards, No. 9 Duke suffered their own unranked loss on Saturday, ceding a tough defensive battle to USF 65-56.

Seventeenth-ranked Georgia Tech remains undefeated with Saturday's ranked win over No. 23 Nebraska, while No. 14 West Virginia lost to unranked Colorado later that day.

Parity is the name of the game this season, with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and other recent shifts impacting a number of programs across the NCAA. And with conference play looming, teams will rely on regional rivalries and schedule strength to prepare them for heightened competition in the new year.

Penn State won the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship on Sunday, rising above Louisville's hometown advantage and a monster second set by the Cardinals to claim the program's eighth all-time title and first in 10 years.

In the victory, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman head coach in NCAA tournament history to win the championship — all while battling breast cancer.

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Penn State tops Louisville in a back-and-forth matchup

Sunday's championship game drew a sell-out crowd of 21,860 to the KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville, setting a new NCAA volleyball championship record. It was Louisville's second-ever title match, after finishing second to Texas in 2022.

After suffering an ankle injury in​ Thursday's semifinal upset against Pitt, however, Louisville entered the match without senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer. The absence ultimately proved too great to overcome.

The Nittany Lions won the first set 25-23, before Louisville saved 10 set points to dramatically take the second set 34-32.

But the Nittany Lions roared back, overwhelming the Cardinals to win the third set 25-20 before closing out the deciding set 25-17.

A moving win for Penn State's women's volleyball coach

Penn State coach Schumacher-Cawley, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall, stayed with her team throughout the 2024 season.

"I'm very happy for Katie, and it's a big deal for this sport," Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "I'm thankful… that we can move on and that more women will be in this position in the future."

As for Schumacher-Cawley, she remained ever humble.

"I'm inspired by the young kids that are sick," she said after the win. "If I can be an inspiration, then I take that. But I feel good. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people."