In a concerning post-game incident ar on Sunday, Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark found herself in an unexpected collision with an Ohio State fan, following the Hawkeyes' 100-92 overtime loss.

The incident, captured by a spectator and shared on social media, showed Clark being unexpectedly knocked down by a Buckeyes fan rushing onto the court amidst the victory celebration. This prompted a harsh response from Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder, who criticized the post-game environment in a post-game press conference.

“It’s unfortunate the game ended that way and Caitlin gets taken out on the floor. Get inappropriate words yelled at her by fans, by students. That just should not happen,” Bluder said, via Jeff Dubrof KCCI. “Our players should be safe, they should be able to walk off the floor. That’s very disappointing.”

Caitlin Clark says she is alright after collision

owa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark in the foreground of the graphic, with a background image of a crowd storming a basketball court

Clark, who had an exceptional 45-point game, reassured everyone that she was “OK” after the incident.

“I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible, so I started running and I was absolutely just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court,” Clark said. “Basically blindsided and, you know, kind of scary, could have caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me. But luckily my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court. Their AD already came and apologized to me, so I really appreciate that.”

Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff also issued an apology, in addition to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith's visit to the Iowa's locker room to apologize to Clark and Bluder.

“(Clark) had such a spectacular performance today, and she’s such a great player and that should never happen,’ McGuff said, per Mitch Stacy of the Associated Press. “And so I feel really badly about it and hopefully it doesn’t affect her moving forward. But that is extremely unfortunate.”

The game itself drew a record crowd of over 18,000, heightening the intensity of the atmosphere. The post-game incident, however, overshadowed the on-court action, bringing to light concerns about player safety during such celebratory moments.

“I think Ohio State, a great team, a great environment, but obviously very disappointed with the post game, with our players getting injured trying to walk out of the gym,” Bluder said.”That’s wrong.”