The Iowa Hawkeyes will face off against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA women’s championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
The undefeated Gamecocks maintained a healthy lead in their earlier game against NC State tonight, paving the way for them to end the season 38-0 if they can secure the trophy Sunday.
And the Hawkeyes battled it out against UConn in a nail-biter that came down to the final milliseconds. Ultimately, all-time scorer Caitlin Clark — with plenty of help from Hannah Stuelke — led her team to the ultimate stage.
Only four men's teams remain
If you’re looking for some more Final Four fun, tune into the men’s games tomorrow night, which will be at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
- No. 1 Purdue will meet No. 11 NC State on the court at 6:09 p.m. ET.
- No. 1 UConn will face No. 4 Alabama at 8:49 p.m. ET.
The winner of each of those games will advance to the championship on Monday, also at State Farm Stadium.
Clark and Stuelke a winning combo
Clark and Stuelke combined for 44 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in the Iowa win that extends their season one more game.
After the game Stuelke praised her teammates, who she said "did a great job getting me the ball." “Caitlin here, she’s a great passer,” she said.
Clark said Iowa got off to a good start in the fourth quarter, "came up with some big baskets" and played “great offense.”
"Sometimes that’s just what you need to win, my teammates stepped up and did a really good job, made some great baskets when we needed it," she said.
Iowa wins, 71-69
Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes will face South Carolina in the championship game on Sunday.
A huge UConn 3
CLEVELAND — A huge Huskies' 3 brings them within 1 of Iowa with just 39.3 to go.
This might be the loudest the UConn section has been all night.
Hawkeye fans get loud
CLEVELAND — Iowa fans are using this break in the action as an opportunity to fire up the crowd. Chants of “Let’s go Hawks!” fill the arena.
How Iowa's been doing it all season long
You can see how Clark impacts the team stats. Iowa ranks No. 1 in offensive rating and effective field goal percentage. The Hawkeyes are also at the top in 2-point field goal percentage, with Clark’s passing ability setting up easy opportunities for teammates.
This is the weakest defensive team left, even when you account for Iowa’s fast pace. The Hawkeyes are 22nd in the country in defensive rating. They’ll be trying to win in spite of that, counting on simply outscoring their opponents more than shutting them down.
In This Tournament: Only West Virginia, in the second round, has been able to slow down Iowa’s offense, and that came on a night the Hawkeyes shot 5 of 22 from 3-point range. Clark had only three assists in that game.
Sell-out crowd taking in the action
CLEVELAND — No surprise here: They've just announced that a sell-out crowd of 18,284 people has filled the arena here for this match-up.
Kristin Juszczyk brings her fashion talents to women’s college basketball
Stuelke sits atop the leaderboard
Hannah Stuelke leads all scorers with 19 points for Iowa.
Caitlin Clark: 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Paige Bueckers: 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
Both teams are relying on their starters with the bench players contributing 3 points for each team.
It's anybody's game heading into final quarter
CLEVELAND — Iowa and UConn are tied heading into the 4th quarter ... Buckle up!