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In a thrilling battle between two of the Big Ten's best teams, Caitlin Clark hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes an 86-85 victory over No. 2 Indiana at a sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hoosiers came into the game having already clinched the Big Ten regular season title, but both teams battled it out as if it were a Final Four game.

Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes drew a foul on Iowa senior Monika Czinano with less than two seconds remaining on the clock. She gave her team the lead with two successful free throws, and Iowa called a timeout to draw its next play. It was not a secret that the Hawkeyes were going to give Clark the ball, but the Hoosiers were still not able to stop her. As the ball left her fingertips, she was already feeling confident.

"Honestly, I thought it was money," Clark said during her postgame interview.

Statement win for Iowa

This was Iowa's fourth AP Top 10 win, the most in program history. The Hawkeyes pulled it off in front of what was Iowa's fifth women's basketball sellout crowd in school history. Sunday's result also made it the first time that head coach Lisa Bluder got 15 Big Ten regular season wins since she joined the program in 2000. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season with a 23-6 overall record and went 15-3 in conference play.

Iowa seniors Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock were honored after the game, which made the win even more important for the Hawkeyes.

"What a way to go out, honestly," Czinano said when she addressed the crowd.

"That was probably one of the best basketball games I've ever played in," Clark told the Hawkeye Radio Network. "To win it like that on Senior Night for our seniors, I thought it was pretty incredible. We never stopped believing; we knew 1.5 seconds was plenty of time for us. Those are the situations you work on during practice."

Caitlin Clark strengthens her POTY case 

Aside from hitting the game-winning shot, Clark once again led the Iowa offense -- the top offense in the nation -- with what became her 12th career game with 30 or more points against a ranked opponent. She finished the night with 34 points and went 12-of-22 from the field, including four 3-pointers. She was flirting with what almost became her 10th career triple-double, as she also registered nine rebounds and nine assists.

Clark has now scored 20 or more points in 25 games this season, and she is currently riding an 81-game streak of scoring in double figures -- a NCAA Division I best. She has also registered at least one 3-pointer in 48 straight games and has made at least one 3 in 89 career games.

The 6-foot guard is leading the Hawkeyes in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. She also leads the country in points per game and assists. 

Kate Martin stepped up

Martin -- a redshirt senior who announced she will return for a sixth season -- registered 19 points on Sunday. That was well above her average of 7.3 points per game this season. However, this was not the first time she has shown potential to do more. She reached her career-high of 20 points against UConn in late November by going 6-for-6 from behind the arc.

Iowa started the game against Indiana strong by going on a 13-0 run in the first three minutes. The combination of Clark and Martin's offense was a big part of the early momentum. Clark and Martin had a combined 16 of the team's 23 points after the first quarter, when Iowa found a 23-18 lead. By the end of the day, Clark and Martin had hit seven of the team's 11 3-pointers.

Hoosiers are still strong

Indiana's 14-game win streak was snapped on Sunday, but the No. 2 team in the nation put up quite the battle in a tough road game. The Hoosiers (26-2, 16-2 Big Ten) were less than two seconds away from sweeping their opponent, as they had already beaten Iowa 87-78 in February. 

Iowa led for over 35 minutes of the game, but there were a total of nine lead changes and the score was tied four times. Had it not been for the Hawkeyes' run early in the game, the result might have been different.

Four Hoosiers registered double digits with Mackenzie Holmes leading her team with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish contributed with 18 points each, and Grace Berger added 16. Yarden Garzon had seven points but had a game-high 14 rebounds, which helped Indiana out rebound Iowa 36-28. This was typical of the Hoosiers, whose stats through the season have shown they are dangerous because they are a well-balanced team. 

"Indiana is such a good team, and we have so much respect for all their weapons," Bluder said after the game.

The Big Ten women's basketball tournament is set to begin March 1 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It should be a fun competition filled with talent as six teams from the conference are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.