Caitlin Clark started the game with a drive to the bucket to give Iowa a 2-0 lead before UConn went on a 13-3 run to give the Huskies a 13-5 lead with 5:47 left in the first with KK Arnold scoring six of those points. Hannah Stuelke scored four points out of a timeout for the Hawkeyes to help cut the lead of UConn down to two, 13-11 with 2:37 left in the first. Theo first quarter ended very sloppily as Iowa had wight turnovers and trailed, 19-14 after the first ten minutes.
In the second, UConn started the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 28-16 lead before Iowa took a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Sydney Affolter hit a three to propel Iowa to a 10-2 run to cut UConn’s lead to 30-26 with a minute left in the half. Paige Bueckers delivered with a great drive to the basket to end the half with the Huskies up, 32-26. Caitlin Clark had only six points on 3-11 shooting and 0-6 from three in the first half.
In the third quarter, spearheaded by Caitlin Clark’s first three of the game, Iowa went on a 6-0 spurt and tied the game at 36. Bueckers then responded with a three and a post up score to put the Huskies back in front, 41-37 going into a media timeout. The game was going back-and-forth with both teams hitting clutch baskets including Clark with a four-point play as the game was nodded up at 45 with three minutes to go in the period. The quarter ended with the game stalled at 51 for both teams, heading into the last stanza.
The last quarter started out great for Iowa as Stuelkey and Clark hit buckets to give the Hawkeyes a five-point lead, 58-53 with eight minutes left in the game. Iowa started to surge for Iowa in the middle of the fourth with a 9-4 run and took a 66-57 lead over UConn with 5:42 to go. UConn made a late 7-2 run and cut the lead to 68-64 with 2:38 to go in the game.
The Huskies almost closed the gap late as UConn was called for an Offensive Foul with 3.9 seconds to go and Iowa advances to their second-straight National Title game and they will face another SEC opponent in South Carolina: They lost to LSU last season, 102-85 in the title game. The game will be Sunday at 3:00pm ET on ABC.
Updates, Breaking News
Jasone Pearson