CLEVELAND (AP) — Caitlin Clark is capping her illustrious college career with another record-breaking season and another set of prestigious awards.
The star guard from Iowa was honored Thursday as The Associated Press Player of the Year in women’s basketball for the second consecutive year.
Clark received 34 votes from the 35-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Cameron Brink of Stanford received the other vote. Voting was done before March Madness began.
The 22-year-old Clark is the sixth player to win the award more than once and fifth to do it in consecutive seasons. She joined Chamique Holdsclaw, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart as multi-time winners.
“This is a tremendous honor to be on the same list as a lot of great players that I grew up idolizing,” Clark said. “I grew up as a young kid watching them and wanting to be like them.”
The NCAA Division I career scoring leader set numerous records while helping Iowa reach the Final Four for a second consecutive season. A semifinal matchup with UConn awaits on Friday night in Cleveland.
Clark’s play with her logo-depth 3-pointers and dazzling passes has captured the hearts of fans who showed up by the thousands wearing her No. 22 jersey whether Iowa was at home or on the road all season.
One of those players she inspired was Love Johnson, a standout player on her Cleveland middle school basketball team. Johnson and her coach Shawn Cox were on stage with Clark when she was presented the award.
“If we're at home or on the road the arena is screaming, there's young boys, there's young girls that you know are inspired," Clark said. "Whether you win or lose, no matter how many points you score, at the end of the day that doesn't really matter. It's the people that you're inspiring. I think that's been the coolest part of my journey.”
Opposing coaches, including AP Coach of the Year Dawn Staley, have called Clark a generational talent and tried to stifle her creativity and scoring, but she averaged 31.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists during the regular season to help Iowa go 29-4 and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Her games have become appointment viewing for millions — the Elite Eight rematch with LSU earlier this week was seen by more than 12 million, a record for a women's college basketball game — and raised the profile of the sport even higher as it enjoys a surge in popularity. She is the presumptive No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft later this month, a slot held by the Indiana Fever.
Clark has been quick to credit her teammates and coach, and note that the women's game had stars like Lynette Woodard and Pearl Moore and many others long before she started dazzling fans in an era where games are easily found on TV every season.
Her college career will be come to an end this weekend and it has been quite a ride for the West Des Moines native.
“I feel like I’ve talked about her, like used every word imaginable to describe her,” coach Lisa Bluder said. “She is spectacular. I don’t know how else to describe what she does on the basketball court.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket as she is double-teamed by Holy Cross guards Kaitlyn Flanagan (5) and Bronagh Power-Cassidy (13) in the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 91-65. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) steals the ball from Holy Cross guard Simone Foreman (24) in the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 91-65. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)
West Virginia guard Lauren Fields (23) tries to steal the ball from Iowa guard Caitlin Clark in the first half of a second-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued near Houston on Thursday for some residents following heavy rains in Texas that stranded motorists, flooded streets and closed schools as officials warned that conditions in some hard-hit areas could worsen.
"This is a life-threatening situation,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation's third-largest county.
Storms over the past month in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana have dumped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Of particular concern was an area along the San Jacinto River, which was expected to keep rising as more rain falls and officials release extra water from an already full reservoir.
Videos posted to social media showed tractor-trailers partially submerged and water flooding over roadways. More than a dozen school districts north of Houston canceled classes Friday because of the weather and shelters opened in some communities.
No injuries or death were immediately reported from the flooding. At least nine people were rescued from rising water, the Houston mayor’s office said.
Officials ordered an evacuation of people in an area along the river in northern Harris County, where Houston is located. It was unclear how many residents were under evacuation orders.
“We want you out of this area,” Hidalgo said at a news conference Thursday.
Farther north in Montgomery County, officials issued a voluntary evacuation order and said roads were closed because of flooding along the river. The area got about 5 to 8 inches (13 to 20 centimeters) of rain within 24 hours, with some spots getting as much as 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) of rain, said National Weather Service meteorologist Hayley Adams.
The storm brought down trees and left vehicles stranded. It prompted the San Jacinto River Authority to close Lake Conroe and increase water releases from the dam that created the reservoir.
Officials asked that residents farther south along the river leave or prepare to be stranded by rising water for two to three days, Harris said.
The San Jacinto River is normally 45 to 50 feet (13.72 to 15.24 meters) above sea level, but is expected to reach 78 feet (23.77 meters), Hidalgo said.
The county opened three shelters for displaced residents, with a fourth planned.
Dawn O’Leary, a resident of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72.42 kilometers) northeast of Houston, was caught off guard by the rising floodwaters. “I was trying to get to work,” she said, but the roads were so bad that she could not make it.
Emergency management officials said the area could see flooding similar to that caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda, which dumped more than 40 inches (102 centimeters) in some locations in 2019.
This photo provided by the Texas Department of Transportation shows a truck parked as floodwaters rise over a bridge in Grapeland, Texas on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Heavy rains have caused flooding in southeastern Texas and officials in one county asked residents to leave. (Texas Department of Transportation via AP)
Drivers disregard a Conroe Police Department road block and travel down a flooded road, Thursday, May 2, 2024, near Sapp Road in Conroe, Texas. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage of the office space inside her home, where she was working when several trees fell on it, collapsing the ceiling, during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after several trees fell on it during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Amanda Kovar and her daughter, Zoe, walk through their neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A stalled car is seen in flood water near North Park Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A fallen tree is shown fallen on a house during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A basketball hoop is damaged by a fallen tree during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A Houston firetruck makes it way through flood water in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Nathan Duekero tries to unclog a storm drain during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Zoe Kovar walks through her neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Traffic goes around a stalled car on Kingwood Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Amanda Kovar, right, walks with her husband, Matthew, and daughter, Zoe, through their neighborhood in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A truck drives through flood water in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Summer Belson, left, and her brother, Steve Brown, survey damage from a fallen tree in Belson's backyard during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
An SUV is stranded in a ditch in a stretch of street flooding during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
