Iowa-UConn stay updates: Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers face off – USA TODAY

The women’s NCAA Tournament is into the Final Four. Within the second semifinal Friday, Catilin Clark and No. 1 Iowa face off towards Paige Bueckers and No. 3 UConn. Clark and the Hawkeyes wish to get again to the championship for the second consecutive yr. Bueckers and the Huskies are back in the Final Four for the primary time since 2022. 
In Friday’s first recreation, South Carolina dominated NC State within the second half on the way in which to a 78-59 victory and a spot in Sunday’s title recreation.
Women’s Final Four games are airing and streaming on ESPN. USA TODAY Sports activities will present the most recent information, scores, evaluation and extra from the Remaining 4 in Cleveland.
STREAM: March Insanity on ESPN+ and Fubo 
Caitlin Clark has solely six factors on the half after taking pictures 3-for-11 from the ground and lacking all six of her 3-point makes an attempt. It’s the primary time Clark has didn’t make a 3-pointer in an NCAA Match recreation throughout her four-year profession, in accordance with the ESPN telecast.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
Clark has been stymied by UConn’s Nika Muhl, a two-time Massive East Defensive Participant of the Yr. Whereas Clark struggled to seek out open photographs, she did have six rebounds and 4 assists.
However Clark additionally has three turnovers and collectively, Iowa has 12 towards UConn’s robust protection.
Freshman KK Arnold leads UConn with 10 factors, and Paige Bueckers has six factors on 3-of-9 taking pictures.
UConn is shedding the numbers recreation.
The Huskies solely have eight gamers after a rash of accidents this season. And with greater than three minutes left within the first half, Nika Muhl, Aaliyah Edwards and KK Arnold all have two fouls. 
UConn has opened up a 25-16 lead with slightly below seven minutes left within the second quarter whereas Iowa’s Caitlin Clark continues to wrestle. She is 1-for-6 taking pictures and has missed all 4 of her 3-point makes an attempt.
Clark does have three assists, however she’s additionally dedicated three turnovers. As a staff, the Hawkeyes have already got dedicated 10 turnovers.
Caitlin Clark is off to a gradual begin, taking pictures 1-for-5 from the ground. She missed all three of her 3-point makes an attempt and has struggled to seek out open photographs whereas being defended by UConn’s Nika Muhl. Her solely factors got here on a layup.
Not solely has Muhl contained Clark, however she’s additionally made 3-pointers whereas sparking the Huskies, who led by as many as eight factors within the quarter.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is off to a mortal begin because the Hawkeyes have fallen behind UConn 16-11 with about two minutes left within the first quarter. Clark is 1-for-4 taking pictures and has missed each of her 3-point makes an attempt.
KK Arnold has six factors for the Huskies, who pulled forward with an 8-0 run.
Brent Clark is such a dad.
He was noticed by TV cameras earlier than Friday’s recreation, munching on snacks that had been hidden within the entrance pocket of his jacket. No phrase on what these snacks had been.
Clothes designer Kristin Juszczyk, who has made a reputation for herself designing one-of-a-kind sports activities jackets and coats, after all accomplished a Caitlin Clark coat for the Remaining 4.
Kristin modeled the coat and posed together with her husband, San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, in an Instagram put up Friday to indicate off a few her Clark designs.
We asked some hoops legends for their thoughts on the generational expertise. Steph Curry, Maya Moore, Kelsey Mitchell and others broke down her recreation, explaining what makes her so good.
Might Clark make the 2024 Olympic roster for the Paris Games? It’s difficult.  
Caitlin Clark is the reigning nationwide participant of the yr, a sharpshooting supernova with a penchant for launching 3-pointers from the logo, flicking no-look passes by means of defenders’ arms and speaking trash to any and all who stand in her approach.  
The postseason for Clark and Iowa begins subsequent week, with the Hawkeyes playing within the quarterfinals of the Massive Ten convention event. It doesn’t matter what occurs within the subsequent few days, Iowa is expected to earn a top four seed within the NCAA event, and host the primary two rounds. A yr after leading Iowa to the national championship game, Clark is making an attempt to get again to her second consecutive Remaining 4, an accomplishment few gamers have achieved. USA TODAY Sports activities has been monitoring her recreation intently. In case it’s good to brush up in your Clark trivia, we’ve got you covered with our complete guide to all things Clark. 
Paige Bueckers’ event stats this time round are nothing wanting sensational: Via 4 video games she’s averaging 28.0 factors, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 3.3 steals and taking pictures 51.5% from the sector. — Lindsay Schnell 
The two first faced off during the 2021 season. Clark was a freshman simply beginning to flip heads, and Bueckers was already the perfect participant within the nation after coming in as essentially the most extremely touted freshman. The primary matchup went one thing like this: 21 factors, three rebounds, 5 assists and 5 turnovers for Clark vs. 18 factors, 9 rebounds, eight assists and two turnovers for Bueckers. UConn won 92-72. 
However that was three years in the past, earlier than Clark turned Clark (aka the all-time leading scorer in college hoops, males or ladies) and Bueckers suffered by means of two season-ending accidents. She went a staggering 720 days between NCAA Match video games. — Lindsay Schnell 
The Hawkeyes have but to win a nationwide championship in ladies’s faculty basketball, in order that they have zero titles. — Victoria Hernandez 
Iowa has been to at least one nationwide championship recreation. With Caitlin Clark dominating the complete season, they confronted LSU in final yr’s title recreation and lost, 102-85. If the Hawkeyes defeat No. 3 UConn on this yr’s Remaining 4, they may make a second consecutive nationwide championship recreation look. — Victoria Hernandez 
That is the third time the Iowa Hawkeyes shall be within the Remaining 4. They’re returning to the nationwide semifinal the place they beat South Carolina, 77-73, final yr to advance to the championship recreation. They then misplaced the title recreation to LSU. The Hawkeyes’ first Remaining 4 look was in 1993 when C. Vivian Stringer was the coach. The Hawkeyes misplaced to Ohio State, 73-72, in additional time within the nationwide semifinal. Stringer was the primary coach in faculty basketball historical past to take three totally different colleges to the Remaining 4 when she did so with Cheyney State in 1982, Iowa in 1993, and Rutgers in 2000 and 2007. — Victoria Hernandez 
You higher be. As a result of Friday on the Girls’s Remaining 4, we’re getting that rematch. Her full identify, after all, is Paige Bueckers. However like Caitlin Clark, she is so good, so well-known and so transcendent past basketball that she goes by just one identify.  
If solely all of us had that form of star energy. Read Lindsay Schnell’s full story. 
Caitlin Clark and top-seeded Iowa take to the courtroom tonight in Cleveland towards No. 3 UConn. They tip off at about 9:30 p.m. ET. 
The highest-seeded Hawkeyes tip off against the No. 3 Huskies at 9:30 p.m. 
USA TODAY Sports activities’ Lindsay Schnell is picking Paige Bueckers and the UConn to win whereas Nancy Armour is picking Caitlin Clark and Iowa to win.
ESPN is airing and streaming Iowa vs. UConn. 
Connecticut has been to the nationwide championship 12 instances. The Huskies have received the title all however as soon as, in 2022 when they lost to South Carolina, 64-49. 
There’s a risk of a rematch of that recreation this yr if the Huskies and Gamecocks every win their Remaining 4 semifinal. — Victoria Hernandez 
The Huskies have received 11 nationwide championships, tied with the UCLA males’s staff for essentially the most of any program in Division I faculty basketball, and all underneath head coach Geno Auriemma. Connecticut received the title in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Six of these seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2016) had been undefeated. — Victoria Hernandez 
UConn has been to the Final Four 23 times, all underneath head coach Geno Auriemma. That is the report for many Remaining 4 appearances of any staff in Division I faculty basketball − males’s or ladies’s. The Huskies’ first journey to the Remaining 4 was in 1991 once they misplaced within the semifinal to Virginia, 61-55. They’ve since gone again to the Remaining 4 in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024. The event was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Their streak of 14 consecutive Remaining 4 appearances from 2008 to 2022 was damaged when Ohio State beat UConn, 73-61, in the Sweet 16 final season. — Victoria Hernandez 
Is it too early for grownup drinks? Apparently not whenever you’re internet hosting an alternate ESPN telecast through the ladies’s Remaining 4.
Hey, Sue Chook and Diana Taurasi, what’s in these pink Solo cups? 
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was asked after their first show in 2022 if he would watch it later, drew laughter when he mentioned: “I did not report it, and the probabilities of me watching it are lower than zero. While you’ve been round these two so long as I’ve, I actually actually have little interest in listening to something they must say. On any matter, particularly me. However I am positive they had been humorous as hell, and I am positive no matter I see they had been ingesting did not come from the shop.”
Questioning what Sue Chook thinks? Inquisitive about Diana Taurasi’s ideas? Effectively, you’re in luck.
For the third year in a row, the previous UConn stars are teaming up on ESPN’s alternate broadcast through the Remaining 4. The telecast is underway on ESPN2 and their ingesting from pink Solo cups has commenced.
Care to wager on who the defending Tremendous Bowl champions are rooting for in Friday evening’s Remaining 4 nightcap?
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs shared a photograph of Iowa star Caitlin Clark carrying a Chiefs jersey as a younger lady.
“You cheered for us. Now it is our flip!
All of Chiefs Kingdom is rooting for you tonight, @CaitlinClark22“
These are heady instances for girls’s basketball and, by extension, ladies’s sports activities. 
Caitlin Clark is a family identify. Iowa and LSU’s rematch of final yr’s title recreation drew more than 12 million viewers, such a bonkers quantity it beat all however one faculty soccer recreation this season. The very best seats for Friday evening’s Remaining 4 video games will set you again greater than $7,000, every, and it’s round $400 simply to get within the door. 
“That is precisely what we wished for girls’s basketball,” Clark mentioned Thursday. “But in addition I really feel prefer it may have been a factor a very long time in the past.” 
Read Nancy Armour’s full column. 
As Iowa’s Caitlin Clark continues to rewrite the report books, USA TODAY Sports activities is tracking all her stats through the NCAA Match. Right here’s everything you need to know concerning the famous person guard. Right here is an in-depth, illustrated look at the Iowa star and her race to the all-time NCAA Division I scoring report. 
You’ve heard of Paige Bueckers, proper? Iowa coach Lisa Bluder definitely has, praising her the day earlier than the Hawkeyes tackle Bueckers and UConn in Friday’s Remaining 4. Bueckers, Bluder mentioned, separates herself as a result of she will “cease on a dime and elevate together with her shot.”  
Bluder’s proper. And Bueckers’ ability and athleticism, coupled together with her measurement (she’s a robust 6-feet) would be the distinction in Paige vs. Caitlin Clark, Round 2, and the explanation UConn advances. (UConn won Round 1, a Candy 16 matchup in 2001). 
The largest motive that UConn will win: They’ve been right here earlier than. Rather a lot. Extra particularly coach Geno Auriemma has been right here quite a bit — he is received 11 of those. As probably the greatest strategists within the recreation, he’ll have a good plan against Clark. And don’t overlook that in March and April, nobody in ladies’s faculty basketball is aware of extra about successful than Auriemma. Read Lindsay Schnell’s full story. 
Iowa doesn’t wish to make the NCAA Match into its 2024 Revenge Tour. Nor does coach Lisa Bluder need the Hawkeyes video games turning right into a showdown between Caitlin Clark and, on this case, Paige Bueckers. OK, then how about Survival of the Fittest? 
Given the tempo with which Iowa likes to play and the necessity to, if not comprise Clark attempt to restrict her injury, this matchup could be an excessive amount of for UConn’s restricted sources. 
Clark is going to Clark. She’s averaging a little over 32 points within the NCAA Match after dropping 41 on LSU in the Elite Eight on Monday night, when she additionally had 12 assists and 7 rebounds. After a tough begin to the event, she seems to have absolutely settled in and good luck to anybody when that occurs. Read Nancy Armour’s full story. 
Caitlin Clark will almost certainly be the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever within the WNBA draft on April 15, whereas Paige Bueckers will return to UConn subsequent season because the early favourite for 2024-25 nationwide participant of the yr honors. However how do the famous person guards stack up on the courtroom? And what do the stats say? USA TODAY dove into the numbers of their freshman seasons in 2020-21, their present seasons, their play thus far within the 2024 NCAA Match and their one head-to-head assembly. Read it in full. 
Geno Auriemma is aware of Caitlin Clark is coming for the UConn Huskies.  And with that in thoughts, he desires to get one factor out of the way in which earlier than Clark and Iowa match up with UConn within the second national semifinal on Friday in Cleveland: He has nothing towards her. Nothing in any respect. 
“Yeah, I hope Caitlin Clark had a private agenda towards LSU,” Auriemma mentioned after Clark dropped 41 and Iowa exacted some revenge on the defending champion Tigers in a 94-87 win of their regional closing, reserving a visit to their second consecutive Remaining 4.  
“I do know there’s nothing private between me and her. I do not have to be seeing her drop 50 on us subsequent weekend,” Auriemma deadpanned earlier than laughing together with reporters. “I like her. I believe she’s the perfect participant. Overlook I ever mentioned Paige (Bueckers) is the perfect participant within the nation. I believe (Caitlin’s) the perfect participant of all time. I do not know whoever mentioned Paige is the perfect participant.” — Lindsay Schnell 
Iowa famous person Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA all-time scoring record this season. Here is an illustrated breakdown of each certainly one of her factors.
We additionally asked some hoops legends for their thoughts on the generational expertise. Steph Curry, Maya Moore, Kelsey Mitchell and others broke down her recreation, explaining what makes her so particular. 
Iowa famous person guard Caitlin Clark is averaging 32 factors per recreation this season on 46% taking pictures. She additionally averages 9 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per recreation. We’re monitoring all of Caitlin Clark’s stats here.
Caitlin Clark is shooting 38 percent from 3-point range this season. For her profession at Iowa, she is taking pictures 38.8 p.c from 3.
Kim Mulkey paid Caitlin Clark the last word praise. Mulkey and Clark had a moment in the handshake line and the LSU coach mentioned she told Iowa’s star, “I positive am glad you are leaving. Lady you’re one thing else. By no means seen something prefer it.”
Right here is the UConn women’s basketball roster.
All video games shall be broadcast on ESPN. Listed below are further streaming choices to observe all of the motion in your gadgets. 
The best way to watch March Insanity: Watch all tournament games with a subscription to fuboTV 
The Iowa Hawkeyes are favorites to defeat the UConn Huskies in Friday’s Remaining 4 matchup, in accordance with the BetMGM college basketball odds. 
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