Caitlin Clark, Iowa beat UConn in March Madness thriller to earn championship game berth
CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark has gifted us what we didn’t know was possible.
She has thrown passes no one could anticipate.
She has hit shots from other area codes.
She has scored more points than any player in history.
She has made Iowa City the coolest city in sports.
She has left us with so many memories, produced so much joy, made so many fall in love with a sport that has always lived in the shadows, that was never scheduled for such a moment.
She will give us one more day.
And she will give herself one last chance to achieve all she’s wanted most.
After recovering from an early 12-point deficit and surviving a harrowing final seconds, top-seeded Iowa pulled out a 71-69 win over third-seeded UConn in Friday night’s national semifinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to extend Clark’s collegiate career and return to the national title game.
The Hawkeyes (34-4), who made their first-ever championship game appearance in last year’s loss to LSU, will meet No. 1 South Carolina (37-0) in a rematch of last year’s Final Four battle, when Clark scored 41 points and handed the Gamecocks their only loss of the season.
“It feels like every time we’re going into a game in this NCAA Tournament it’s like everybody wanted to see this,” said Clark, who finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. “I think being in this moment before I think gives our group a good understanding of what to expect … South Carolina has been the top of the top. They’re in a different league. “
UConn (33-6), now eight years removed from its most recent national title, had the ball and a chance to win in the final seconds, trailing by one.
Looking to free star Paige Bueckers in the corner, UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards was called for a controversial moving screen with 3.9 seconds remaining.
The Huskies never touched the ball again.
“There’s probably an illegal screen call that you can make on every single possession,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I just know that there were three or four called on us and I don’t think any called on them. So we just gotta get better at setting illegal screens.”
In a matchup of the country’s two biggest stars, Bueckers — who was limited to 17 points on 17 shots — was more bothered by her own play.
If the former National Player of the Year was better, Edwards would never have needed to set that screen.
“Everybody can make a big deal about that one play, but not one single play wins a basketball game,” Bueckers said. “I feel like I made a lot of mistakes. … Maybe that was a tough call for us, but I feel like I could’ve done a better job preventing that from even happening.”
Clark struggled shooting from the start, missing her first six 3-pointers against a disciplined defense that forced 11 first-half turnovers and held the highest-scoring team in the country to 14 first-quarter points.
With UConn up 28-16, Iowa sophomore Hannah Stuelke (23 points) helped keep Clark’s title dream alive, shooting 9 of 12 from the floor, with several timely buckets.
“I think that’s one of the greatest ways our program has evolved over the course of me being here is I used to feel like I had to do everything,” Clark said. “Now, I have so much trust in my teammates and I just knew they were going to make plays down the stretch.”
Iowa prevailed against the most accomplished coach and program in the sport’s history.
Just as the Hawkeyes did in the Elite Eight against LSU, the defending champions.
Next comes the most dominant team in the nation, the juggernaut that’s been waiting a year to see Clark again.
“It’s the national championship,” Clark said. “It’s the last game of my career. So I don’t think motivation will be hard to come by.”
One more day. One last chance.
