Another Great Run Falls Short
On Iowa's second straight finals run and the greatness along the way
For the second year in a row, the Iowa Hawkeyes made it to the national championship game. And yes, for the second year in a row, Iowa came up short in that game, falling to an SEC team with a coach that has multiple titles to their name.
Last year, it was Kim Mulkey earning her third title, and her first with LSU. This year, the pill is a lot easier to swallow. Dawn Staley earned her third ring with South Carolina, who ran the table the entire season, never losing a game and taking down the Hawkeyes 87-75.
It sings for Iowa to not fully capitalize on this incredible run it has been on, especially considering how much is going to change for the program this offseason. But, we can’t get lost in that, because getting to two straight national titles is one heck of a feat on its own.
Last Week’s Hoopla:
As a reminder — unless you are retroactively putting Maryland and Rutgers in the Big Ten for every season — the conference hadn’t had a team make a national championship game since Michigan State in 2005. It’s been even longer — 1999 — to find the Big Ten’s last champion in Carolyn Peck’s Purdue team.
I think that context is important before looking at Iowa’s win over UConn. While the Hawkeyes are in a conference that has not won a national title in 25 years, the Huskies have won 10 this century. History only means so much, but Geno Auriemma has had this program at a consistent level of success higher than really anyone ever has in the sport.
So, when UConn went up by 12 in the first half and Iowa looked completely lost on offense, it felt like that historical coaching pedigree had taken over. UConn superstar Paige Bueckers wasn’t even having a strong game in the first half, but her team was stepping up in a big way, led largely by the unbelievable smothering defense by Nike Muhl on Caitlin Clark.
It was Bueckers who extended the UConn lead to 12, making a three to push the Huskies up 28-16. Clark, naturally, answered with a layup on the next possession. Iowa’s defense — which has been underrated much of the year and has shown up big for the Hawkeyes all tournament — shut out the Huskies for three minutes to get momentum back. A 32-26 halftime deficit felt like a huge win considering how Iowa played.
Iowa first tied the game with 7:36 to go in the third quarter, but didn’t earn its first lead of the game until some Hannah Stuelke free throws with 2:34 to play in the same frame. The game went to the fourth tied at 51, but with momentum mostly favoring the Hawkeyes.
Iowa had a lead for 9:34 of the 10 fourth quarter minutes. The Hawkeyes went up 26 seconds in and never relinquished the lead, but that doesn't mean they ran away with it. The lead was as high as nine points, but the Hawkeyes scored just a single point in the final 2:16 of the game as UConn hung around, then came within a score, then trailed by just a point before the controversy began.
Aaliyah Edwards was called on an illegal screen with four seconds left. My initial thoughts were that you should not be making that call in that moment. On further views of the play, I relent on that opinion, because it is a pretty clear moving screen and that should be called no matter how much time is left. Great effort by Gabbie Marshall to force the call, and another huge play by Iowa’s defense to get out of the situation.
In the end, it was Iowa 71, UConn 69. They were back for another round with South Carolina, and back in the national title game once again.
Clark had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists on 7-of-18 shooting. She still made plenty of big plays, but it was Hannah Stuelke’s 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting that led the Hawkeyes on the night. Kate Martin had 11, but hit big shot after big shot in that fourth quarter to keep Iowa up.
Final second foul talks aside, this was a tremendous game that had so many back and forths. Both teams had huge moments, big defensive stops and highlight performances, but the Hawkeyes did just enough to scrape by.
About 15 minutes of the national championship felt a whole lot like the last time Iowa and South Carolina met. The Hawkeyes came out red hot, opening up a 10-0, then 20-9 lead off some crazy Clark shots, fast pace and allowing South Carolina to shoot mid-range jumpers all day.
The key last year was to let the Gamecocks work on the outside as much as possible, and, more simply, slow down their momentum at all costs. Never letting South Carolina lead for more than a few seconds in the Final Four let Iowa control the momentum and continue to stay above water all the way to a stunner of an upset.
For 15 minutes, it felt that way again. Iowa used that big lead to stay ahead, doing just enough to keep the Gamecocks at bay. But, even with a lot of different faces this time around, this was a South Carolina team that learned from its mistakes.
Quickly after an 18-point first quarter outburst, Clark was smothered the rest of the game. A 30-point performance is nothing to be upset about, but it came on 10-of-28 shooting. Iowa shot 39.7% on the afternoon from the field and hit only nine threes. South Carolina both forced the Hawkeyes to work more inside, then completely outplayed Iowa once it got there. The Gamecocks also outshot the Hawkeyes from there, hitting 42.1% of their attempts.
After that 20-9 start, Iowa was outscored 78-55 the rest of the way. South Carolina got incredible contributions from freshman Tessa Johnson off the bench (19 points, 7/11 FG), and the Gamecocks ended up with the 87-75 victory.
Iowa fought *hard* to come back in this, and it was not over, really, until there was about two minutes left in the contest. The South Carolina lead was as low as six with about 2:35 to go, but the Gamecocks got the next score and shut the Hawkeyes out for the final 4:13 of the contest.
Credit Dawn Staley and this roster. It’s full of crazy talent, yes, but it’s also a whole lot of new, unproven talent, and Staley’s coaching efforts this year should be considered among the all-time best. This team was not the preseason No. 1, and there was some expectation of minor regression. Instead, 38-0 national champions.
Yes, Iowa goes home “empty-handed” once again, but I want to give one more ode to this Hawkeyes era, the three-time Big Ten champion, two-time national runner-up that has been in thanks to some key faces.
Caitlin Clark. What a player, and one I will miss being in this conference. There’s no one like her in the sport, with what she can do to break the will of an opponent or to make an impact even when her shots not falling. It’s those type of things I’m excited to see for the Indiana Fever next season.
Kate Martin. The Glue for Iowa for a reason. Such an underrated skillset, and the type of secondary option that nearly got the Hawkeyes all the way here. She’s a great shooter, never afraid of the moment and I would love to see a WNBA team take a late-round chance on her if she plans to enter.
Gabbie Marshall. Her offensive usage was up and down, but the impact she made as a perimeter defender was always absolutely massive. She’s tenacious, pesky and was a huge piece to Iowa’s long-lasting success.
That’s a big three that has played hundreds of games together as starters, and all three depart in one way or another. Iowa had success before this trio and will likely have it after, but these three made a significant impact on this program that will last for years and years after this run.
Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter also deserve major credit for what they did this season, and during this late run. Both improved dramatically in larger roles this year, and Iowa really needed them to do it to get back here. Assumedly both are returning and will lead the first post-Clark era team, but I was so impressed with how both of these players developed this season.
Thank you to Iowa for another tremendous, high-stakes ending to the Big Ten’s season. I’d always prefer to have real interest in the final games of the year, even if they come with tough defeats. And, more importantly than “Iowa’s women’s basketball program” or whatever, the Hoopla Newsletter will forever be changed by what this team did.
And, yes, Hoopla will never be the same without Caitlin Clark. The banner is raised at Hoopla HQ, and the statue plans are in the works.
Thank you for one hell of a run, 22. I look forward to your chemistry with Grace Berger at the next level.
Here’s what Hoopla is going to look like over the next few weeks:
Next Week (4/15) — Full Hoopla Groupla winners post with WBIT, WNIT talks
4/22 — End-of-season Hoopla 40
4/29 — WNBA talks and incorporating the four new Big Ten teams
May — Don’t expect anything! I’ll likely be off the whole month folks!!
To the top three brackets of the Hoopla Groupla — Drake’s “Real” Bracket, Dan_Hope and Rakija Brown — first of all, congratulations! Second, I will be in contact with you this week for your Homefield prizes. If I don’t have your contact info, please send a comment here or a DM on Twitter (@hooplawyatt).
More content is coming, but thank you to everyone who has read Hoopla this season. It was yet another blast of a ride, and it’s been so much fun watching this fantastic sport grow every year. Let’s keep that momentum going in the right direction.
Photo Credits: Iowa Women’s Basketball (@IowaWBB), Twitter/X — Photo 1 | Photo 2
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