Caitlin Clark's final NCAA Tournament to begin at home. Can she be as prolific as she was last year?

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Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, center, awaits her NCAA college basketball team’s seed reveal during a “Selection Sunday” watch party Sunday, March 17, 2024, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette via AP)

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Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) cheers after forcing overtime as time expires to end the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Nebraska in the final of the Big Ten women’s tournament Sunday, March 10, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark and Iowa will begin their bid to return to the NCAA women’s national championship game at home Saturday against Holy Cross or UT Martin.

Clark, the NCAA Division I career scoring leader, was prolific in last year’s NCAA Tournament. She posted the first 40-point triple-double in men’s or women’s tournament history and broke the single-tournament records for 3-pointers (24) and points (191).

The Hawkeyes (29-4) are the No. 1 seed in the Albany 2 Region, which also includes No. 4 Kansas State, No. 5 Colorado, No. 3 LSU and No. 2 UCLA.

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Iowa split two games with K-State this season, losing 65-58 in Iowa City and winning 77-70 in a Thanksgiving tournament in Florida. The Hawkeyes beat Colorado 87-77 in the Sweet 16 last year and lost to LSU 102-85 in the title game. Iowa hasn’t played UCLA since 1991.

Louisville also is in Albany 2. Iowa beat the Cardinals 97-83 in a regional final last year, with Clark going for 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Clark begins the tournament with 3,771 points, which ranks eighth among men’s and women’s college players on any level. Clark could crack the top five with a long run in the tournament.

FILE - University of Southern California's Cheryl Miller, center left, and Cynthia Cooper, center right, rejoice after winning the NCAA women's basketball championship by defeating the University of Tennessee 72-61 in Los Angeles, April 1, 1984. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)

March Madness trivia, you say? Try this women’s NCAA Tournament quiz

HOLD FOR STORY — Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis conducts practice at Fairfield University, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. The 32-year-old, second-year head coach is leading her team to a 22-1 record on the cusp of their first AP Top 25 ranking. The Stags are currently on a 20-game winning streak. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)

Fairfield, on a 29-game winning streak, gives coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis a contract extension

UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards (3) smiles as she watches her teammates warm up before an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East Conference tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena, Sunday, March 10, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

UConn star Aaliyah Edwards will enter the WNBA draft following the NCAA Tournament

Clark has announced she will skip her final season of eligibility and enter the WNBA draft in April. She is the presumptive No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Caitlin Clark’s final NCAA Tournament to begin at home. Can she be as prolific as she was last year?

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