Iowa vs. UConn Final Four showdown is more than merely Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers

CLEVELAND — Not long ago, Caitlin Clark looked back at videotape of Iowa’s NCAA Sweet 16 loss to Connecticut in 2021.

“We both looked really, really young,” Clark said, referring to herself and her Friday-night counterpart, Paige Bueckers.

Gabbie Marshall recalls something else.

“Even though we were in the (COVID-forced) bubble (in San Antonio), we were so happy then, just to make the Sweet 16,” she said.

Times have changed.

“We have goals and aspirations,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “We want to be here; back-to-back Final Fours are special. It’s a sign of consistency in a program.

“But this team isn’t satisfied.”

Iowa has reached an unprecedented level within its program history. On the other hand, they don’t come any blue-bloodier than the UConn Huskies, though they haven’t raised a championship trophy since 2016.

No. 2 Iowa (33-4) meets No. 10 UConn (33-5) in a national semifinal Friday. Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. (CT) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (ESPN).

Clark (the Associated Press national player of the year for the second consecutive year) and Bueckers (who won that award in 2021) are the stars.

But there will be eight other players on the floor, too.

“It’s not Paige vs. Caitlin,” Bluder said. “If it was, they should just play one-on-one.

“I know everybody wants to set it up that way.”

  Buy Photo

UConn won that game back in 2021. Bueckers’ recollection?

“Obviously the bubble,” she said. “I remember just playing a great team game.”

She turned to UConn Coach Geno Auriemma.

“I think that's the game I slapped you on your butt.”

Bueckers missed part of the 2021-22 season due to injury, then all of the 2022-23 campaign with another.

“I think the coolest thing about Paige is how resilient she is,” Clark said. “Obviously she's been kind of dealt a tough hand, and she only has positive things to say about her teammates. And the way she carries herself on and off the court and the way she works hard, none of that has changed.”

Marshall is likely to draw the defensive assignment of Bueckers.

“Paige is a smooth player,” Marshall said. “She doesn’t force too much. She can score from all three levels. I just want to make it as tough for her as I can.

“I have to guard Caitlin in practice. If I guard Caitlin, it’s like guarding the best.”

Bueckers is scoring at a 22.0-point-per-game clip. The leading scorer in NCAA Division-I history (3,900 points), Clark leads the nation at 32.0 points and 9.0 assists per game.

“We don't plan on stopping her. Because I tried calling all the other coaches that have stopped her, and none of them answer the phone,” Auriemma said. “So we're going to have to find a different way to win than stopping Caitlin Clark.”

The Hawkeyes dethroned 2023 NCAA champion LSU, 94-87, in the regional finals Monday at Albany, N.Y., then flew to Cleveland on Tuesday.

They visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Sydney Affolter said she played an electric guitar while some of her teammates “were banging on the drums.”

As for Bluder, there was no musical performance. Certainly nothing vocal.

“Not with this voice,” Bluder said, adding that she is a fan of Tina Turner, Heart, Fleetwood Mac and Three Dog Night.

It was a raspy voice, tempered by months of overuse.

The voice of a basketball coach in April.

Win or lose, Marshall will conclude her career in her home state. She is a Cincinnati native.

“I never dreamed it would end here,” she said, speaking both of Cleveland and of the Final Four. “When we won our first Big Ten tournament championship (in 2022), I didn’t think there would be more to come, nothing like this.

“It all couldn’t have been scripted any better for me.”

Recommended Reading

Lisa Bluder’s circle of Iowa players didn’t get larger in number, but grew in performance

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com