Caitlin Clark and the rest of the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday advanced to their second straight NCAA National Championship Game. A handful of fans believed they had some help getting there.
Iowa outlasted UConn 71-69 in the Final Four held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
UConn had their final shot seemingly taken away in the closing seconds. The Huskies had possession trailing 70-69 with 10 seconds left in the contest.
But once UConn finally got the ball into the hands of top scorer Paige Bueckers with four seconds left, Huskies forward Aaliyah Edwards was whistled for an iffy offensive foul call.
Aaliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul on this possession. pic.twitter.com/1INxb2YHE2
— ESPN (@espn) April 6, 2024
A handful of spectators — including LeBron James — couldn’t believe the referees made the call at such a critical juncture to decide a Final Four game.
NAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I ain’t rolling with that call.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 6, 2024
refs calling that illegal screen on UCONN pic.twitter.com/VLKogEbpt0
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 6, 2024
Hate when refs are part of big stories.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 6, 2024
refs right before UCONN inbounded the ball: pic.twitter.com/C23Q0SKdiP
— bum (@BattleRapBum) April 6, 2024
I hate the end of that game. That's a damn shame. Iowa came to play and so did UConn. That's absolutely NOT how you determine a game like this.
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) April 6, 2024
UConn intentionally fouled Clark to put her on the line on the ensuing possession. The Iowa guard made the first free throw but missed the second. Iowa was able to secure the offensive rebound to virtually seal the win.
Polarizing call aside, Iowa fully deserved credit for mounting a comeback in the second half after trailing by 12.
Despite a relatively pedestrian game from Clark, the Hawkeyes made big plays down the stretch to put themselves in position to beat the Huskies. Clark even made a high-IQ play with a second left to shave precious milliseconds off the clock.
CAITLIN CLARK THROWS IT OFF OF BUECKERS TO WASTE TIME OMFGGGG
GENIUS. https://t.co/zKDEnioYaR
— Mark Jackson’s Burner (@casualtakeking) April 6, 2024
Hannah Stuelke led Iowa with 23 points on 9/12 shooting. Kate Martin added 11 points and 8 rebounds. Both Stuelke and Martin made some clutch buckets while taking advantage of the defensive attention Clark had drawn all game.
Clark finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists on 7/18 shooting. But the Iowa star’s dad arguably stole the show Friday with a sneaky move of his own.
