INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark scored 41 points, becoming more efficient in the second half, and No. 14 Iowa pulled away from Nebraska for an 83-66 win in the semifinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament on Saturday.
The second-seeded Hawkeyes (22-7), who have won five straight, face No. 14 Indiana, the fifth seed, in Sunday's championship game.
Iowa beat the sixth-seeded Cornhuskers (24-8), who knocked off top-seeded and 10th-ranked Michigan on Friday, twice in the regular season and Clark had 31 points in each game. She had a double-double in one game, a triple-double in the other.
Monika Czinano, who had 31 points in one of the earlier games, added 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting for the Hawkeyes, who shot a blistering 67% in the second half. Kate Martin had 11 rebounds.
Clark had 19 points on 4-of-15 shooting with five rebounds, three assists and seven turnovers in the first half when the Hawkeyes had to score the last four points to take a 38-35 lead.
She was 9-of-12 shooting with four rebounds and two turnovers in the second half, scoring 22 points. It was the fourth 40-point game this season for the nation's leading scorer and Big Ten Player of the Year.
Isabelle Bourne scored 16 points to lead the Cornhuskers (24-8), who had won five straight. Jaz Shelley and Sam Haiby scored 15 points each with Haiby grabbing eight rebounds.
Nebraska, which came in shooting 38% from 3-point range, had by far its worst game of season behind the arc, making a season-low 3 on 26 attempts.
Clark and Czinano combined for 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting in the third quarter when the Hawkeyes stretched the lead to 13. Nebraska was 4 of 16 from the field in the fourth quarter and never got closer than 12.
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