Clark, Iowa rally past UConn and into NCAA final
IOWA 71 UCONN 69
CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark led Iowa back to the national championship game, scoring 21 points as the Hawkeyes rallied past 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 with unbeaten South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s national semifinals. The Hawkeyes then fell short of winning the school’s first championship, falling to LSU in the title game. Now Clark is one win away from bringing her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career.
“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.”
After a rough opening 30 minutes because of a swarming UConn defence, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer finally got going in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied at 51-all, Clark scored seven points in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the period to give Iowa a small cushion. UConn (33-6) got within 60-57 before the Hawkeyes scored six straight to take a 66-57 advantage.
Iowa led 70-66 before Nika Muhl hit a three-pointer after a steal with 39.3 seconds left to get the Huskies within one.
Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke turned it over with 10 seconds left. UConn had a chance to take the lead, but Canada’s Aaliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul while setting a screen with 4.6 seconds left.
Clark made one free throw but missed the second. Teammate Sydney Affolter got the rebound and UConn tied her up, forcing a jump ball. The possession arrow kept the ball with the Hawkeyes, who sealed the win by throwing the ball in the air to run out the final seconds.
Stuelke scored 23 points to lead Iowa. Clark finished with nine rebounds and seven assists.
“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.”
Bueckers and Edwards, from Kingston, Ont., each scored 17 points for the Huskies, who were back in the Final Four after a one-year hiatus that ended their run of 14 straight seasons in the national semifinals.
South Carolina 78, N.C. State 59
CLEVELAND — Perfectly dominant. Nothing new for South Carolina.
With All-America centre Kamilla Cardoso scoring 22 points, the Gamecocks emphatically kept their unbeaten season going, advancing to the championship game of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 78-59 victory over North Carolina State on Friday night.
The talented and tenacious Gamecocks (37-0) led by just one at halftime before putting their full arsenal on display in the third quarter. They clamped down on defence, started knocking down three-pointers and outscored the Wolfpack 29-6 to turn what had been a tense matchup into another one of their blowouts.