The University of South Carolina women's basketball team is going back to the NCAA Tournament Final.
The University of Iowa women's basketball team is going back to the NCAA Tournament Final.
In the case of the Gamecocks, they are back after losing in the Final Four to the Hawkeyes last season. SC defeated the University of Connecticut Huskies in the 2022 final. In the case of Iowa, they are making their second consecutive trip after losing last season's title game to Louisiana State.
Both teams defeated their respective opponents on Friday night - the Gamecocks using a strong third quarter to rally past North Carolina State 78-59, and the Hawkeyes coming alive in the fourth quarter to defeat UConn 71-69 in a game that wasn't short on drama.
In the opening game, the Gamecocks and Wolfpack played a competitive first half, with the score 32-31 SC after one half. North Carolina State's Aziaha James, who scored 20 in the game, had six quick points in the first quarter that gave her team a 10-7 lead early. She scored on a backdoor layup that put the Wolfpack ahead 16-13 before Milaysia Fulwiley hit from deep to tie the game. The second frame played out much like the first, with both teams going back and forth as Kamilla Cardoso was dominant, scoring 14 in the quarter. At the half, the Gamecocks led by one, 32-31, and blew things open in the third.
Outscoring NC State 29-6, SC got hot, with Raven Johnson scoring five points, including a three-pointer that was part of a 7-0 run. Cardoso, who scored six in the quarter and had to leave the game momentarily late in the second quarter, was very difficult for North Carolina State to handle all game. Cardoso finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Brazil native was First-team All-SEC this season and the nation's Defensive Player of the Year. At the end of third quarter, it was a 23-point game, 60-37.
In addition to Cardoso's stellar performance, Johnson finished with 13 and Te-Hina Paopao scored 10. Ashlyn Watkins recorded 20 rebounds, the third most in Final Four history.
Leading the Wolfpack was James with her 20, and River Baldwin and Zoe Brooks each finished with 12.
The nightcap between the Hawkeyes and Huskies was one of the best games of the season.
Geno Auriemma employed a terrific game plan on Caitlin Clark, switching screens and having Nika Muhl pick Clark up full court. Clark rarely had space in the first half, and when she did, she was off the mark to the tune of 3-for-11 from the field and missing all six of her three-point attempts. KK Arnold led UConn with 10 points in the first half on 4-for-6 shooting.
A 10-4 run to open the second half by the Hawkeyes got the game tied at 36 after Kate Martin converted on a layup. Paige Bueckers answered with a three-pointer, and again scored on a layup to put the Huskies ahead 41-37.
The sides went back and forth for the better part of the third, and the score was tied 51-51 heading into the fourth.
Then, the drama unfolded.
The game remained close, with Clark starting to get going as she hit a jump shot and a step back that gave Iowa a 60-55 lead.
A quick run by the Hawkeyes, capped by a long jumper from Gabbie Marshall, pushed the lead to nine, 66-57, with 5:42 to go, looking like they were going to pull away.
Not going quietly, UConn fought back. Aaliyah Edwards scored on an inside layup and moments later, Bueckers hit a wing triple, getting the Huskies within four. After a Kate Martin turnaround, Arnold converted a spinning layup. With the score 68-64, Connecticut called a timeout. Martin hit a layup inside, but Bueckers hit Edwards with a nice interior pass that cut the lead to four. Clark at the other end missed a layup that Edwards rebounded.
Bueckers, getting a screen from Edwards that freed her up for a corner three, missed badly. At the other end, Hannah Stuelke attempted to hand the ball off to Martin, who could not secure the pass. In a wild change of momentum, in what should have been a six-point lead had free-throws been made, Muhl came away with the ball, gave it up, and retreated to the top of the arc, wide open. She received a pass and promptly drilled the three, making it a one-point game with 39.3 seconds remaining.
Then, Clark, winding the clock, found Stuelke in the middle of the key, who pivoted and threw a pass that was intercepted by Arnold and saved to Edwards. Bueckers called time, setting up one last chance for the Huskies with 9.3 seconds on the clock.
What happened next will be something of great debate and controversy going forward.
Edwards, attempting to free Bueckers for a wing three-ball attempt, was called for a moving screen with 3.9 seconds on the clock. Auriemma, beside himself, could be seen bending over and yelling obscenities.
Surely, it was a very controversial call. It was a bang-bang play, and, even if it was a moving screen, you rarely see a call made in that spot at that point of a game. Typically, officials do not call screens that tightly, and to call one at such a crucial juncture in a game is odd.
With the 71-69 victory (Clark added a free-throw), Iowa is heading back to the national championship game, where they lost to LSU 102-85 last April.
Stuelke, scoring 23 points, led her team, while Clark finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, just 7-for-18 from the field. Martin scored 11.
Edwards led Connecticut, playing a complete game in tallying 17 points, eight rebounds, five steals, three assists, and one block. Bueckers was off her game. Despite scoring 17, she was 7-for-17 from the field and 3-for-8 from three-point range. Arnold played a nice game with 14 points on 6-for-10.
South Carolina, meanwhile, looks to cap a perfect season with a victory on Sunday and exact revenge on a Hawkeye team that ended their hopes of a perfect season last year in the Final Four.
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