Caitlin Clark continues to . On Wednesday, that was named the winner of the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award for the second straight season. The Hawkeyes superstar led Division 1 in scoring with 32.0 points and 9.0 assists per game, which was also the most in the country. Clark, for her part, calls it "special" that she was able to win the award again, after her dominant season. "It's difficult to do, especially with the talent in our game," Clark told reporters . "It's been a special year, I have the most amazing teammates, the best coaches and I'm just really grateful." Despite winning the award, Clark maintained that her focus was solely on UConn, who Iowa will face "Winning big games with my team and sharing those moments with them is far greater than any award," Clark continued. "Obviously this is a tremendous honor, especially with the great talent that we have in our game but for me, that's definitely where my total focus is." For Clark, this season marks the second time she has won the women's college player of the year award, having clinched it for the first time after the 2022-23 college
basketball season. Clark is the first woman to win the award in back-to-back years since Breanna Stewart, who triumphed in three straight years from 2014 to 2016. Additionally, Clark has improved from her junior year to her senior season. As a junior, Clark averaged 27.8 points, 8.6 assists, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 34.4 minutes per game under Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. In her final year in a Hawkeyes uniform, Clark increased her scoring, assist, rebounding and steal averages while playing essentially the same amount of minutes as the year prior. As a senior, Clark averaged 32.0 points, 9.0 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.6 minutes per game, showing how much more effective she had become despite the minuscule increase in playing time. Along with her increased production, Clark also broke numerous records this season, most notably, eclipsing record for most points scored. Because , Clark was named the National Player of the Year by
ESPN, The Athletic and Sporting News. She was also the Big Ten Player of the Year and a member of the First Team All-Big Ten. Lastly, the Iowa star was selected to be part of the First Team All-America by the Associated Press and the
United States Basketball Writers Association. All the latest news, showbiz, lifestyle and sports updates, brought to you by our dedicated
American team. to make sure you're not missing out. With how massive her popularity has grown throughout her career at Iowa, Clark says oftentimes, her schedule is packed. Still, she makes an effort to focus on the task at hand, which is currently to help the Hawkeyes beat the Huskies to advance to the tournament final. "I think for me, just remember season's not done," Clark continued. "You're still playing a whole other game and then hopefully another one after that and that's where your complete focus is. "Also I think having the experience of going through this before has definitely helped me. You kind of know what to expect, you don't have much free time, you got to be really locked in and I think that's what I'm kind of leaning on the most."