Clark spreads her considerable wealth in semifinal win

Iowa, the only team to beat South Carolina in the past two seasons, gets another shot in the championship game Sunday

Hannah Steulke

We’ll soon know how many people watched women’s basketball on ESPN Friday night. We won’t know exactly how many of those people were neophytes to Caitlin Clark, or how many have seen her on a State Farm commercial before they ever saw her launch a three. Presumably there were more than a few who watched Iowa play Connecticut in the NCAA semifinals and were anticipating greatness, or great numbers. If they watched to the end, they saw goodness instead.

UConn held Clark to 21 points, eleven below her average. She tried 11 three-pointers and missed eight. In the first half she got nothing from deep space, thanks to a brazen defensive effort by Nika Muhl, a Croatian who was twice the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. The Hawkeyes clearly needed more from her, and she delivered in the second half, but not necessarily for herself. Teammates, particularly sophomore Hannah Stuelke, had better matchups and more room, and they did just enough for a 71-69 win, and a date with South Carolina in Sunday’s final.

The game will be known, particularly in Connecticut, for a mean tweet. Connecticut was trailing by one point and was running something for Paige Bueckers on the right side of the floor. Aaliyah Edwards, the Huskies’ center, tried to pick off Gabbie Marshall, but did so with her arms and hands, and moved out of her way to do so. A whistle ensued. It wasn’t as blatant as what Karl Malone did to set free John Stockton in 1997, when Stockton’s jumper beat Houston and put the Jazz in the NBA Finals. But it was beyond the pale, and, fortunately, it wasn’t ignored by the officials just because of time and score.

“There were three calls like that and they all went against us,” said Geno Auriemma, UConn’s coach, after he was denied a chance at a 12th national title. “I guess we have to do a better job setting screens. But we didn’t deserve to win because of the way we played the last couple of possessions.”

The game should be known as an illustration of Iowa players who are far more than ball retrievers for Clark. They are not the Pips, or the Vandellas. Stuelke scored 47 points against Penn State this season. She’s 6-foot-2 and smooth at the rim, and she made nine of 12 in this one, for 23 points. Kate Martin, Clark’s most recognizable wing woman, had 11 points and eight rebounds. Marshall helped Iowa hold Bueckers to 7 for 17 shooting and 17 points.

As for Clark, she found ways to run away from Muhl’s shadow when it mattered. She used two screens to get herself free for her first 3-pointer, early in the third quarter. She got loose on a switch and struck for a 4-point play. The Huskies were determined to keep her from piling up easy points on drives, as they sent the cavalry after Clark whenever she beat Muhl off the dribble. Clark’s 21 tied a season low, and that was in a 100-62 win over Florida Gulf Coast. But she didn’t disrupt her own team by striving for more. She does lead the nation in assists, too. In fact she has led Iowa in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons. No one at Iowa, or anywhere else, has done that for her team in the annals of Division I women’s basketball.

Iowa’s defensive work, especially in its zone, was also a reminder that coach Lisa Bluder has maximized the magic that arrived from Dowling Catholic High in West Des Moines. Bluder has won 850 games, and Clark is not her first National Player of the Year. Megan Gustafson was, in 2019. Only three other active Division I women’s coaches have gotten to 850 W’s, and Bluder is a 3-time Big Ten Coach of the Year.

She can become legendary on Sunday. Iowa was the only team to beat South Carolina last season, doing so in the NCAA semifinals, 77-73. In that game they swarmed the Gamecocks inside and forced them to try pop-a-shot from outside. South Carolina was 4 for 20, and Clark scored 41.

Now South Carolina has won 73 of 74 games and is 37-0 this season with a brand new starting lineup. Even though the Gamecocks rely on Kamilla Cardoso to rumble inside, they are now a 38 percent three-point shooting team, and they were 8 for 19 in their 79-56 win over North Carolina State, one in which they ruled the third quarter, 29-6. And when they needed reinforcements, Ashlyn Watkins came off the pine to get 20 (twenty) rebounds in 30 (thirty) minutes, and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley flashed the game that made her the best player in the SEC tournament, which seems like it happened several months ago.

To say Iowa will need the best of Caitlin Clark on Sunday is not one of history’s great realizations. Iowa’s good news is that, on Friday, she kept her pitch count low.