ALBANY, N.Y. — Caitlin Clark sat in the confetti not far from where she regularly shoots and hits from deep. The crowd of teammates, family and friends had naturally cleared an open spot, like LSU cleared room for her to tie her career-record of nine 3-pointers. Pulling her new Final Four hat low, she typed on her phone. Scrolled a little. Wiped her face at the end of a long work day.
The college senior wanted a little silence for herself to take a couple of deep breaths. The piece of the net she cut from the rims of MVP Arena popped high from her ponytail as cameras snapped photos.