>Every time you touched it, thousands of people would boo and holler at you. She seems to blossom for Clark as a result of it.

For many, it would be too much to handle the stare of 18,000 people, at least a few thousand of them yelling and booing you every time you touched it. It seems to bring out the best in her for Clark. Ever the show-off, she answered by spearheading a late Iowa surge to reestablish the status quo and put the Hawkeyes ahead by seven points heading into the fourth quarter, including one more deep bomb to silence the student section.

But Maryland did not back down in the fourth, tying the score at 76–76 halfway through. A landmark victory in a challenging season was on display, and the Xfinity Center was electrifying. But as was the case the whole game, their star’s playmaking provided the Hawkeyes with an answer. After regaining the lead with a three-pointer, Clark helped Iowa score the next three baskets. She did this by using the attention she commanded to locate open teammates, such as Sydney Affolter in the corner, who is always prepared to make a shot when Clark gives it to them.

You would be hard pressed to find any of the nearly 18,000 fans in the building who were not satisfied, even if the Terps lost because of Iowa’s late surge that ultimately managed to seize control of the game from Maryland.

That’s a little bit of the Caitlin Clark show’s charm. She steps into the spotlight every night and never fails, even with all the attention and pressure on her. She hasn’t scored less than 21 in a game this season and has scored 30 or more in 12 of her past 16 games, including the last six (and that was in just 26 minutes of action against FGCU). The only thing that really varies about Clark and Iowa’s performance is whether the opposition can match their level of consistency. Most of the time, that’s too much to ask in four quarters, but when a team performs as well as Maryland did on Saturday, it makes for an incredible atmosphere.

That was a road game atmosphere unlike anything I’ve seen since Stephen Curry’s early NBA career breakout. They bring such a diverse group of people to the arena. Families with children enthralled with them, ardent supporters hoping their team will defeat the opposition, and people who might not attend another game this year curious about the excitement and mesmerized by it all are all present at the game. A game becomes a destination event because of them, but that can only last if they perform every night in every town.

That’s what Clark does, and if her performance is coming to a city near you, I heartily endorse it.