Hawkeye fans have called Caitlin Clark the best player in women’s college basketball almost since the day she stepped on the court in the black and gold.

She didn’t get the award last season, but this season she looks to be on crash course for the National Player of the Year award.

Is Caitlin Clark the best player in the nation?

Let’s ask head coach Lisa Bluder.

“No doubt that she is. There’s a lot of great players around America, no doubt. I’m sure their coaches feel just as strongly about them as I do about Caitlin, but Caitlin is in a situation where she has the ball in her hands all the time.”

On the season, not only does Clark lead the nation in points per game (27.5), but she also dishes it out to her teammates and leads the nation in assists (225). On top of that, she is the teams leading rebounder and shoots 87.4% from the free throw line.

Caitlin’s most recent performance, a 38 point, 11 assist, 6 rebound night in the biggest game of the season may have wrapped up the award for her. She shot a season-high 8/11 (72.7%) from behind the arc and turned the ball over just twice, despite turning over a combined 29 times over the last four games.

“That was a focal point these past few days,” said Clark. “That’s what Coach Bluder talked about in the locker room and these past few games, I started the game kind of tense, turning the ball over. Just uncharacteristic of myself and I knew that was going to be a big key (today).”

“When you have the ball in your hands all the time, you can make an impact on the game, but you can also mess it up,” said Bluder. “There is a lot of responsibility with that, and she has a direct effect on the game when she is out there.”

Aliyah Boston at South Carolina, Veronica Burton at Northwestern, Naz Hillmon at Michigan, NaLyssa Smith at Baylor, Ashley Joens at Iowa State, Paige Bueckers at Connecticut; there are great players all across the women’s basketball landscape, but Caitlin Clark has shown that she is a step above all of them.

“You don’t see anybody else in the country shooting logo threes, triple teamed. That’s all I’ve got to say,” said teammate Gabbie Marshall.

Clark has amassed 22 games of 20+ points, including three 40+ point performances. She has five triple-doubles and 13 double-doubles, while she is the only Big Ten player to record five triple-doubles in a single season.

Maybe the most impressive stat of all?

Clark has broken three arena scoring records this season.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena (44 points), Pinnacle Bank Arena (39 points) and the Crisler Center (46 points) have all seen their scoring records fall this season.

Only time will tell if the voters agree that Caitlin Clark is the worthy of the NPOY award.

Flipping the subject, the Hawkeyes now move into postseason play and Caitlin was able to check off one of her goals today, but another still remains posted above her locker. Make a Final Four.

“I have it written right on my locker, our vision. It says Big Ten champions, Final Four and what I need to do to get there,” said Clark. “I looked at that this morning and I was like “ok, we’re here. This is our moment” and Coach Bluder said just go take it and that’s exactly what we did.”

With three top ten wins in the final two weeks of the regular season, the Hawkeyes have put themselves in a good position to secure home court advantage for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. That would be a huge start in the journey to a Final Four for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.