Caitlin Clark’s Message to Former Iowa Teammate After Murray State Game

In their first NCAA Tournament game since Caitlin Clark left for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, the No. 6 seed Iowa Hawkeyes had no problem with their first-round opponent, defeating No. 11 seed Murray State 92-57.

But this win may have been even more special for Iowa forward Jada Gyamfi, Clark’s former teammate.

With Clark seeing her college basketball career come to a close, Iowa lost a huge chunk of their offense, losing the team leader in points, rebounds, and assists from one season ago.

However, the Hawkeyes made up for it a little by bringing in Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen. Although she didn’t quite put up the starts Clark did throughout her career, Olsen did finish the season averaging 18.0 points and 4.9 assists, both leading the team.

Olsen continued to impress in her Iowa tournament debut, recording a double-double with 12 points and 12 assists. Thanks to the dominant play of Olsen and Iowa, Gyamfi, who averages 4.2 minutes per game this year, got to check in in the fourth quarter.

Although Gyamfi played in garbage time, she still had her best tournament performance in her three-year career with two points, two rebounds and two assists. But the win isn’t the only thing Gyamfi will be celebrating, as Saturday also marked her 21st birthday.

After the Iowa win, Clark, who had grown close to Gyamfi in their two seasons together, shared a message to her former teammate on Instagram, hyping her up after scoring a basket.

“Miss you and your hugs ,” Clark captioned her Instagram Story. “BIG BDAY BUCKET TODAY!!!! GIVE HER THE BALL!!!! @jadagyamfi sorry this is my best artistic work ”

Olsen, Gyamfi and Iowa will now move on to the second round, where they will face the winner of No. 3 seed Oklahoma Sooners and No. 14 seed Florida Golf Coast Eagles.