Iowa Advances to the Championship Game After Controversial Call
Cleveland - Caitlin Clark deserves all the attention that she gets, but Paige Bueckers has the skill to steal the spotlight. Before Bueckers tore her ACL last season, she was considered one of the best, if not the best, women’s college basketball players. Even though the game was not nearly as high scoring as it was predicted to be, it was even more intense as each bucket was more important. The way these two amazing athletes competed against each other during the game, will go down as one of the best viewing experiences this season.
The Huskies got off to a quick start, going on an 8-0 run within the first five minutes of the opening quarter. Everyone on the offense was getting involved, the opposite of what the Hawkeyes like to run. An unlikely spark, Hannah Stuelke, lit the fire for the Hawkeyes with her work in the paint. The two biggest talking points after the first quarter were the amount of steals that UCONN had and that Clark had only had two points, going 1-8 from the floor. Nika Muhl, known for her exceptional defense, was crucial in limiting Clark.
The entire Hawkeyes offense was discombobulated until Muhl picked up her second foul in the second quarter. Neither star player was their usual self, at least offensively. Clark and Bueckers only combined for 13 points in the first two quarters of the game. Both defenses were there even though the offense was not. The largest difference between the two teams was the steals category as UCONN led 11-2 in this regard. At halftime, the Huskies led 32-26.
The beginning of the third quarter is what everyone thought we would see, Clark and Bueckers trading bucket after bucket. The fouling became an issue for the Huskies, as they do not have a deep bench. Clark started changing the momentum by hitting a and-one three, completing the four-point play. KK Arnold, starting point guard for UCONN, picked up her fourth foul with three minutes left in the third quarter, a huge momentum switch. It was all tied up 51-51 at the end of the third quarter.
The Hawkeyes gathered the momentum heading into the fourth quarter, where they grabbed their first two-possession lead for the first time in the game. Stuelke continued to do her thing in the paint, scoring at will. Aaliyah Edwards was doing as much as she could offensively for the Huskies as she could not guard Stuelke. Kate Martin is the glue that holds this Hawkeyes team together. If Clark is not able to get her shot, Martin is the one who is trusted to score. Muhl knocked down a HUGE three with 39.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter after she forced another Iowa turnover to cut the lead to just one point. The next Iowa possession, Arnold forced another turnover with 9.3 seconds to go which allowed them to get the final shot of the game. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they could not get the potential game-winning shot off due to an offensive foul on Edwards.
You can be the judge of this controversial foul call at the end of the game. In the final moments of this Final Four game, this is not something a referee should be able to change the outcome of. In the end, Iowa squeaked out the gritty win, 71-69. You can view the ESPN box score here and see how close Caitlin Clark was to getting another triple-double. The Hawkeyes will now face the undefeated, South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday, April 7th in the Championship game.
