Caitlin Clark leads Iowa rally for 71-69 win over UConn in women’s Final Four

The Hawkeyes (34-4) will next play their undefeated rival South Carolina, which fell short against Iowa in the national semifinals the previous year. The Hawkeyes then lost to LSU in the championship game, missing out on the school’s first-ever title. In the last game of her college career, Clark is now one victory away from winning the first women’s basketball championship for her home state.

“It’s gonna take one through five. They’re so skilled. They played a great game today,” Clark said of South Carolina. “At this point anybody can take it. You’ve got to go prep, you’ve got one day to take of yourself, so we’ll be ready.”

The overwhelming UConn defense made for a difficult first thirty minutes, but in the fourth quarter, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer finally got going.

Clark scored seven baskets in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter to give Iowa a slim lead with the game deadlocked at 51 points apiece. After UConn (33-6) closed the gap to 60-57, the Hawkeyes pulled away with six consecutive points to establish a 66-57 lead.

With 39.3 seconds remaining, Nika Muhl stole the ball and made a 3-pointer to cut Iowa’s lead to 70-66.

Hannah Stuelke of Iowa won it with ten seconds remaining. With 4.6 seconds remaining, Aaliyah Edwards set a screen and was called for an offensive foul, which prevented UConn from taking the lead.

Clark missed the second attempt despite making the first. After Sydney Affolter, a teammate, grabbed the rebound, UConn tied her up, resulting in a jump ball. The Hawkeyes won the game by tossing the ball into the air to run out the last seconds after the possession arrow maintained the ball in their possession.

Iowa was led by Stuelke, who scored 23 points. Clark ended with seven assists and nine rebounds.

“I thought we started off the fourth quarter really good,” Clark said. “Came up with some big baskets. Hannah came up with some baskets. Kate (Martin) was tremendous. Just resilient.”

The Huskies, who had been in the national semifinals for 14 straight seasons, were back in the Final Four after a one-year break, thanks to 17 points apiece from Bueckers and Edwards. Perhaps Geno Auriemma’s finest coaching performance to date was this one. Prior to the season, UConn was hoping to win its 12th championship in school history, but a slew of injuries that sidelined over half of its team swiftly put an end to that dream.

But after missing a whole season and a portion of another due to injury, Bueckers—who was named the national player of the year as a freshman in 2021—returned to that level of performance and helped the Huskies win back the conference.

Bueckers and Nika Muhl’s and her teammates’ outstanding defense, which surrounded Clark each time she touched the ball, helped UConn get off to a quick start. In the second quarter, the lead was 12 points for the Huskies.

Prior to the court being thoroughly cleaned, Martin was back on the Iowa bench. Then, down the stretch, she made three huge baskets.

Coach Lisa Bluder of Iowa stated, “We performed exceptionally well in the second half tonight and could not be happier.” “We had a little trouble in the first half. We genuinely never gave up.”

Clark had a difficult first half, making just six 3-pointers while scoring six points. She appeared frustrated at times and seldom ever got any open shots. The generational player at Iowa was consistently receiving words of support from their coaches.

The Hawkeyes were behind 32–26 at the half, but Clark kept them in the game with six rebounds and four assists despite her lack of scoring.