ALBANY, N.Y. — Hailey Van Lith was given her task during the team's scouting before LSU women's basketball's Elite 8 showdown with Iowa on Monday night.

The LSU senior point guard was going to be the one to open the game guarding star Caitlin Clark and she was excited about the prospect. One year ago in the Elite 8 with Louisville, Van Lith didn't get asked to guard Clark.

"I'm a competitor and I wanted to compete," Van Lith said.

The combination of Van Lith, who guarded her most, Last-Tear Poa and sparingly Flau'jae Johnson, couldn't contain Clark enough as the Iowa star broke the NCAA Tournament record for career made 3-pointers and tied the single-game mark with nine 3s en route to leading Iowa to the 94-87 victory inside MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

Clark finished the game with 41 points and 12 assists.

"There's not a lot of strategy. You've got to guard her. Nobody else seems to be able to guard her," LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. "We didn't even guard her last year when we beat them. She's just a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better. That's what the great ones do. I think they had a kid that scored 21 and 18. She had 12 assists. Caitlin Clark is not going to beat you by herself. It's what she does to make those other teammates better that helps her score points and them score points to beat you.

"What did I say to her? I said, 'I sure am glad you're leaving.' I said, 'Girl, you're something else. Never seen anything like it.'"

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Poa mainly guarded Clark when Van Lith wasn't and said that Clark carried Iowa to the victory.

"She's a tough player. Period," Poa said. "She's one of a kind. She carried her team for real. It's hard to guard her."

The game's two stars, Clark and LSU forward Angel Reese, shared words in the handshake line following the game. Reese said the two encouraged each other keep going. Clark and the Hawkeyes will move on to Cleveland for the Final Four. And for Reese, she has to make a decision on whether she comes back to LSU for her final year of eligibility or enter her name in the WNBA Draft, which she has two days to do so.

"Yeah, she just told me, continue to be a great player, and I told her continue to be a great player, as well, and keep elevating the game and go win it," Reese said.

Johnson found herself in foul trouble halfway through the third quarter. Most thought that Johnson was going to guard Clark — Clark said in postgame she thought Johnson was going to be on her — but she didn't switch over to her until the fourth quarter. And it was just a couple of possessions.

"When I guarded her, she didn't score. I kind of wish I would've guarded her more," Johnson said. "I guess I'll see her in the pros or something like that.

"I did (ask to guard Clark more), but I was kind of in foul trouble. So they didn't want me to. But if I could go back again, I would just guard her from quarter one."

The Elite 8 matchup marked the first and only time LSU star freshman Mikaylah Williams shared the court with Clark. The one prevailing thought Williams had is that Clark will have success on the pro level.

"You can definitely tell that she's a skilled player. And she's been on this level before. So the moment wasn't too big," Williams said. "She never looks sped up in the game. Great players make their teammates look good too, and I thought she made her teammates look good just as good as her. She'll be great at the next level."

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As the game unfolded, Van Lith knew she was competing with Clark. Some of the shots she was attempting were tough ones. It just so happened they were going in.

"I won some possessions and she won some possessions. She's very crafty and they put her in good stuff to where certain people have to switch on her," Van Lith said. "Kudos to their coach and their system, so it is what it is. She hit some tough shots that we were kind of willing to give her. And we let the others (players) score too much.

"Caitlin Clark was really good today."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What Kim Mulkey, LSU said about Caitlin Clark's Elite 8 performance