It’s going to be the best player
in the country vs. the best team in the country in the national
championship game after all.
Caitlin Clark and the Iowa
Hawkeyes survived a thrilling game against Paige Bueckers and the
UConn Huskies 71-69 in their NCAA Women’s March Madness Final Four
matchup Friday night at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in
Cleveland, Ohio.
The National Player of the Year
recipient put up 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists to lead the
Hawkeyes to their second straight national title game appearance
and a meeting against the 36-0 South Carolina Gamecocks.
Clark, who scored 17 points in
the second half after just 4 at halftime, was clutch in the 4th
quarter. She tallied 8 points and dished 3 assists, making big
plays after big plays.
But perhaps none bigger than the
play with 1.1 seconds to go with Iowa inbounding from the baseline.
In a display of high basketball IQ, Clark threw the ball off the
back of an unsuspecting Bueckers with her back turned towards her
and the baseline to waste time off the clock. With just 0.3 seconds
on the timer, Iowa inbounded the ball again to essentially win the
game.
“I watch a lot of basketball and
I understand basketball and she had her back turned to me. So the
biggest point was – you know the biggest thing at that point in the
game is like you just want the clock to go down,” Clark said when
asked about the play. “I mean you don’t want to give them the ball
but she had her back completely turned so I just tried to waste
some clock, and you know – it just came into my brain – so I just
went for it and it worked.”
However, Clark and Iowa’s
brilliance in the 4th quarter and the clutch were overshadowed by a
crucial call late in the game. With Iowa just leading by one 70-69
with 9 seconds left and UConn having possession for the final shot,
Aaliyah Edwards was called for a questionable moving screen call to
give the ball back to the Hawkeyes – setting up for Clark’s
end-game brilliance.
Bueckers, who played all 40
minutes of the game, scored 17 points in UConn’s losing effort
while fellow All-American teammate Edwards and rookie KK Arnold had
17 and 14 respectively in a heartbreaking game for the
Huskies.
Helping Clark survive the battle
against Bueckers was Hannah Stuelke who played perhaps the best
game of her life by contributing 23 points on 9/12 shooting. Kate
Martin chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds for the no.1 seeded
Hawkeyes, who will now move on to face the formidable Gamecocks who
have yet to lose a game for the season.
South Carolina took care of
business earlier in the night against Cinderella team NC State
78-59 to keep their dream perfect season alive entering Sunday’s
title game.
As for Bueckers, she and UConn
will end their season a game short of the title game – a feat she
has accomplished twice now in her career. A symbol of resilience
and togetherness all season long, Bueckers and UConn led by
legendary coach Geno Auriemma lost 6 players during the season to
injuries and came into the final four with just 7 available
players.
Nevertheless, Bueckers will have
one final shot at a national championship next year with hopefully
a fully healthy and complete UConn squad with her best friend and
2021 HS no.1 recruit Azzi Fudd in the fold.
