Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are now just one win away from an NCAA championship, after they beat UConn 71-69 in the Final Four on Friday night.
Clark had an extremely quiet first half by her lofty standards, scoring just six points as UConn took a 32-26 lead into halftime.
But in front of a star-studded crowd that included Jason Sudeikis, Machine Gun Kelly and WNBA stars like Kelsey Plum, Clark came alive in the second period as she finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help the Hawkeyes to the win.
It was actually her teammate Hannah Stuelke who led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 23, while Paige Bueckers had 17 for UConn in defeat.
Iowa, looking for its first national championship after falling to LSU in the final last year, will face South Carolina for the crown on Sunday.
Caitlin Clark came alive in the second half to help Iowa advance to the championship
UConn’s Paige Bueckers scored 17 points but it wasn’t enough for the Huskies to win
Iowa will now look to capture its first championship, after falling at the last hurdle last year
That game will be a rematch of last year’s national semifinal.
With 10 seconds left, UConn had a chance to take the lead, but Aaliyah Edwards was called for a controversial offensive foul while setting a screen with 4.6 seconds left.
The call, which has been widely criticized online, including by LeBron James, gave the ball back to Iowa before Clark split a pair of free throws – with the miss being rebounded by Sydney Affolter and all but ending UConn’s hopes.
After a rough opening 30 minutes because of a swarming UConn defense, Clark – 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.
UConn trailed 70-66 before Nika Muhl hit a 3-pointer after a steal with 39.3 seconds left to get the Huskies within one.
