Caitlin Clark’s time at Iowa has reached its conclusion, proving that all good things still must come to an end.

At this point, it’s hard to fully process everything that occurred during Clark’s time with the Hawkeyes and the sudden end to her time at Iowa. Though they went toe-to-toe with South Carolina, Iowa ran out of steam against the undefeated Gamecocks this time around.

Following Sunday’s loss, Clark admitted there is only so much you can do against a team as deep as South Carolina:

“Yeah, it’s certainly been a special year. To be honest, after last year I was kind of, like, how do we top doing what we did last year? Somehow, some way, every single person in our locker room believed,” Clark explained. “To be honest, this year was probably more special than last year.

“The teams we had to go through to get to this point, we won the Big Ten Tournament. We lost two players that were three-year starters for our program, and to be back in this position and come out here and battle — I mean, South Carolina is so good. There’s only so much you can do.

“Cardoso has 17 rebounds. They have 51 as a team. We have 29. Hard to win a basketball game like that. You’ve basically got to shoot perfect at that point.”

A true competitor, Clark was certainly left stinging after the loss, but she remained proud in herself and her group for giving it “everything we’ve got.” As she waits on the emotions surrounding the end of her career to hit, Clark reflected on all the other greats that helped pave the way for the growth of women’s basketball in recent seasons.

To Dawn Staley’s credit, the head coach of the Gamecocks offered up extensive praise of Clark following the end of the game. Staley praised Clark as one of the GOAT’s of the sport for her influence on the game and a period of growth for everyone involved.

As for the biggest advice to share with others from her career, Clark said she’s proud of the work she has put in and the confidence she has to go after her dreams:

“I would say I think the biggest thing is this is what I kind of said about my entire career is nobody really believed other than myself. I think confidence. I think as a young girl, just have confidence, a young boy, have confidence in yourself and confidence in whatever you want to be,” said Clark.

“I think that was the thing that my parents instilled in me from a young age. They never told me no. They told me no about other things, but not in what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be and the goals I wanted to chase after.

“I would say that’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to say it. You’ve got to work for it. You’ve got to earn it. You don’t ever want anything to be given to you.

“That’s what I’m most proud of throughout my career, I’ve worked really hard to be in this moment. That’s where my confidence comes from. That’s the piece of advice I would give to the younger generation.”

Clark’s legacy, even without a ring, will live on for some time as one of the all-time greats in the sport. She has helped grow the game in a special way and is one of the best scorers in history.