Caitlin Clark led Iowa back to the national championship game, scoring 21 points as the Hawkeyes beat Paige Bueckers and UConn 71-69 in the women’s Final Four on Friday night.
Next up for the Hawkeyes (34-4) is a rematch against undefeated South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s national semifinals. The Hawkeyes then failed to win the school’s first championship, falling to LSU in the title game. Clark is now one win away from bringing her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career.
After a tough opening 30 minutes due to a swarming UConn defense, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer finally got going in the fourth quarter.
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With the game tied at 51, Clark scored seven points in the first two and a half minutes of the period to give Iowa a small cushion. UConn (33-6) got as close as 60-57 before the Hawkeyes scored six in a row to take a 66-57 advantage.
UConn trailed 70-66 before Nika Muhl made a 3-pointer after a steal with 39.3 seconds remaining to bring the Huskies within one.
Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke turned the game around with 10 seconds remaining. UConn had a chance to take the lead, but Aaliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul as she set a screen with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Clark made the first of two free throws before missing the second. Teammate Sydney Affolter collected the rebound and UConn tied her up, forcing a jump ball. The possession arrow kept the ball with the Hawkeyes, who sealed the victory by throwing the ball in the air to run out the final seconds.
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Stuelke scored 23 points to lead Iowa. Clark finished with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Bueckers and Edwards each scored 17 points for the Huskies, who were back in the Final Four after a one-year hiatus that ended their streak of 14 consecutive seasons in the national semifinals. This might have been Geno Auriemma’s best coaching job. UConn had hopes of winning the 12th title in school history entering the season, but those were quickly dashed by a series of injuries that sidelined nearly half of its effective.
But Bueckers, the 2021 national freshman player of the year who returned to this form after missing an entire season and part of another due to injuries, has brought the Huskies back into title contention.
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UConn got behind the Bueckers early and the stellar defense of Nika Muhl and her teammates, who swarmed Clark every time she touched the ball. The Huskies led by 12 points in the second quarter.
Iowa trailed by six at halftime before going into the third quarter behind its star. She scored her first 3-point basket after 2 minutes of play, then his four-point game I put Iowa at one. The Hawkeyes then took their first lead later in the period just before Kate Martin was hit in the face by Edwards, causing her nose to bleed. She ran off the field, leaving a trail of blood behind her.
Martin was back on the Iowa bench before they finished clearing the field. She then hit three big baskets in the final sequence.
Clark had a rough first half, scoring six points while missing all six of his 3-point attempts. She barely had any open shots and looked frustrated at times. The Iowa coaches kept shouting words of encouragement to their generational player.
Although she didn’t score, Clark kept the Hawkeyes in the game with six rebounds and four assists as the Hawkeyes trailed 32-26 at the break.
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