Women’s Final Four recap: Iowa tops UConn to move on to title game against South Carolina

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.

Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes will face South Carolina in the championship game on Sunday.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CLEVELAND — Iowa and UConn are tied heading into the 4th quarter ... Buckle up!

A host of celebrities have made their way to Cleveland for tonight's games.

Cameras inside the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse showed Darius Rucker, Jason Sudeikis, Machine Gun Kelly, and WNBA stars Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum in the stands.

The Hawkeyes briefly pulled ahead after a couple of free throws. It was their first lead since the first bucket of the game put them ahead 2-0 in the first quarter.

It's a major comeback for Iowa, who trailed by 12 in the second quarter.

But UConn quickly scored to even it up again.

We have a tie game! Iowa erases a 7-point deficit with just over 3 minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Huskies are well balanced, ranking fifth in offensive rating and second in defensive rating. Opponents are shooting only 36% from the field against them.

But UConn doesn’t get to the line very often. The Huskies average 15.3 attempts per game, and every other Final Four team is at 18.9 or better.

In This Tournament: UConn has held all four opponents under 34% from the field. The Huskies finally got to the line a good amount against Southern California in the regional final, but they shot just 17 of 27.

Will player fouls start to make the difference? UConn has 11 team fouls to Iowa’s 5.

CLEVELAND — The city has basketball fever, proudly lighting up the night sky with the teams playing in what is likely to be the most-watched women's Final Four ever.

CLEVELAND — Clark gets her first 3 of the nights minutes into the second half.

Round 1 vs. Holy Cross: 27 

Round 2 vs. West Virginia: 32

Sweet Sixteen vs. Colorado: 29

Elite Eight vs. LSU: 41

Final Four vs. UConn (so far): 6

Total points scored in the NCAA Tournament: 135 

CLEVELAND — Is Clark about to get hot?

During warmups before the start of the second half, the All-Amercian drained three straight 3s. She's yet to hit one during this semifinal game.

UConn’s KK Arnold leads all scorers with 10 points and 4 steals in the first half of this Final Four matchup.

Even with the slow start, Clark is methodically working toward a triple-double with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. She’s 0-6 from behind the arc.

Her pregame over/under for threes was 5.5.

UConn is leading the Iowa Huskies 32-26 at the half.

UConn defense is making a difference: Iowa finished the first half on a 10-4 run to end the half down by six. Iowa's highest-scoring offense since 2014 has been held to just 26 points in the first half.

UConn is now the favorite (-180) on the moneyline.

CLEVELAND — As the clock was winding down in the first half and Iowa got into more of a rhythm, the crowd seemed to come alive with the chants rising and falling based on how the Hawkeyes played at both ends of the court.

Though both teams are represented here in the stands, Iowa fans seem to be making more noise.

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers have clearly been sports fans their whole lives, cheering on football teams since they were too short to man the court.

The Kansas City Chiefs shared a photo of young Clark in Chiefs gear ahead of tonight's Final Four match, and the Minnesota Vikings did the same of Bueckers.

"She grew up cheering for us and now we're cheering for her," the Vikings posted on X.

The superstar is ice cold, going 1-6 from the field with three rebounds, three assists and three costly turnovers.

UConn leads by 9 points with just under 7 minutes to go in the first half.

Caitlin Clark revealed in an interview this week that her iPhone lock screen is set to a photo of Michael Phelps swimming at the Olympics. “It’s pretty tough,” she said. 

Phelps said he was “honored” to hold that place. 

“This is so cool!” the Olympian wrote in a reply on X. 

It was a slow start for both Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, who combined for four points.

Clark, who hit nine threes in the last game, is 0-3 from behind the arc. Iowa is 2-9, while UConn is 4-7 from three-point land to start this contest.

After 10 minutes of play, UConn leads Iowa 19-14, but the Hawkeyes have 30 minutes to try to punch their ticket to the championship game.

Iowa was plagued by turnovers in the first quarter, giving UConn the ball back eight times.

Unlike their male counterparts, the NCAA women's basketball teams play games of four 10-minute quarters. The men play two 20-minute halves.

The women's rules were changed in 2015 to "enhance the flow of the game," according to a 2015 NCAA release announcing the change.

Prior to the 2015 announcement, women's college basketball also played in two 20-minute halves.

Both the NBA and WNBA play in quarters, as well: The NBA uses four 12-minute quarters, and the WNBA uses four 10-minute quarters.

Expect a much higher scoring game for the second Final Four matchup between UConn and Iowa.

The total opened at 167.5 and has moved down to 162.5. A full 30-points more than the first game tonight.

The Iowa Hawkeyes defeated Holy Cross in the first round, West Virginia in the second round, Colorado in the Sweet 16 and LSU in the Elite Eight, in what ended up being a rematch of last year’s championship game. 

As for UConn, the Huskies barrelled past Jackson State in the first round, Syracuse in the second round, Duke in the Sweet 16 and USC in the Elite Eight to make it to Cleveland tonight.

Powerhouse guard Paige Bueckers with the UConn Huskies has already racked up 112 points and 20 assists during the NCAA tournament, and she shows no signs of stopping. 

The 22-year-old guard announced in February that she will return to UConn for another year on the court, deferring her decision to enter the WNBA draft, a move that was likely expected of her.

No surprise that Caitlin Clark scored the first points of the game for her Iowa Hawkeyes.

All eyes have been on NCAA all-time scorer Caitlin Clark since she announced in February that she would be taking her talents to the WNBA after her senior season with the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

Still to be determined is whether tonight’s matchup against UConn will be the last game of her college hoops career. 

Already this year, she became Iowa’s leading scorer, the NCAA women’s leading scorer and even took the title as the highest scorer in the history of NCAA Division I basketball. 

Will she add a championship trophy to her list of college basketball achievements this year, too? 

Ahead of the Iowa-UConn matchup, 69% of the handle (total money) and 69% of the bets (total transactions) are on Iowa to win; 77% of the handle (total money) and 69% of the bets (total transactions) are on Iowa to cover the spread (-3.5).

The Caitlin Clark points over/under total sits at 34.5 (-102) and 5.5 made threes. Big-time moment for a big-time player.

The Paige Bueckers points over/under total sits at 26.5 (-122) and 2.5 threes.

We know South Carolina is heading to the championship, now we'll find out who they'll face.

No. 1 Iowa and No. 3 UConn are about to face off for the final spot in the championship game at 9:30 p.m. ET.

The championship game is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kamilla Cardoso leads all scorers and rebounders, finishing with a double-double, 22 points and 11 rebounds.

South Carolina snagged their spot in the championship game, beating NC State 78-59. They'll face the winner of UConn-Iowa, which starts next.

Their championship appearance isn't exactly unexpected — they are undefeated on the season, after all.

Can they keep their winning streak alive for one more game and claim the trophy Sunday?

Spotted in the crowd: Jason Sudeikis. His Ted Lasso character may be big on soccer, but Sudeikis has been seen taking in several women's basketball games this season.

He was cheering on Iowa and Caitlin Clark in their win over LSU earlier this week.

At the end of the third quarter South Carolina leads 61-37, and the spread has grown to SC -23.5.

NC State will need to start the final quarter fast to stay in the game. South Carolina is 10 minutes from the Championship game.

The Gamecocks built their lead thanks to a monster quarter, outscoring NC State 29-6 in the period. Seven players scored for South Carolina.

Defensively, the Gamecocks are in a class by themselves. With the 6-foot-7 Cardoso protecting the basket, South Carolina is holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 36.4, the top defensive mark in the nation. The Gamecocks aren’t quite as dominant on the offensive glass as last year, but they’re playing at a faster tempo and have become more efficient overall on offense. An inability to shoot 3-pointers cost them in the Final Four last year, but that’s no longer a weakness with South Carolina making them at a 39% clip in 2023-24.

But they shoot just 69% from the free throw line and don’t do a particularly good job getting there.

In This Tournament: That improvement from beyond the arc came in handy for the Gamecocks in their one close game in this tournament. They shot 8 of 16 in a 79-75 win over Indiana in the Sweet 16.

The Gamecocks started pulling away after the half, nabbing the first double-digit lead of the game.

With just under 5 minutes to go in the quarter, they lead the NC State Wolfpack by 12.

Coming in to tonight's game, The Wolfpack had the fourth-lowest foul rate in the nation, although given South Carolina’s spotty free throw shooting, that might not be much of an advantage for their semifinal. N.C. State has also done a good job on the defensive boards, which could be a more important asset.

The Wolfpack are just 25th in offensive rating. They aren’t great at forcing turnovers or getting offensive rebounds, and for a team with fairly middling shooting percentages, N.C. State’s inability to create extra chances could be a problem.

In This Tournament: Outside shooting was big for the Wolfpack the last two games. N.C. State went 16 of 35 from 3-point range against Texas and Stanford. The Wolfpack, however, had only four offensive rebounds against the Longhorns, six against Stanford and three in the second around against Tennessee.

The Gamecocks took the court without a loss this year, touting their impressive 36-0 record.

The NC State Wolfpack, on the other hand, entered with a record of 31-6.

CLEVELAND — People here have their eyes on the court — and the skies.

Between the women's championship and excitement over Monday's eclipse, the city is buzzing with energy.

The action kicks off on the hardwood tonight at 7 p.m., and the moon is expected to block out the sun here at 3:15 p.m. Monday.

Read here for more on the eclipse, including times it’s visible, path of totality, why glasses are essential and more.

The score sits at 32-31 at the end of the first half, in South Carolina's favor.

Kamilla Cardoso walked off the court, appearing to be injured, with just minutes left on the clock. We'll see if she makes it back after halftime.

The South Carolina center is already in double digits, racking up the last 10 points for the Gamecocks — and knocking in all of her team's points thus far into the second quarter.

Hearing a lot about UConn? Or NC State? 

That’s because both the men’s and the women’s teams made it to this year’s Final Four in their respective tournaments. 

The UConn men’s team will face Alabama and the NC State men’s team will play Purdue tomorrow night. The winners will advance to the men’s championship game. 

South Carolina and NC State will head into the second quarter knotted up 16-16.

Earlier in the tournament, there was an issue with the 3-point line for the at Moda Center. A discrepancy in distance at each end of the court went unnoticed through four games over two days before Texas and NC State were informed of the problem ahead of their Elite Eight matchup on Sunday.

The teams’ coaches agreed to play Sunday’s game as scheduled with the mismatched 3-point lines rather than delay it, the NCAA said in a statement. N.C. State beat Texas 76-66 to advance to the Final Four.

The average price paid for a ticket on the resale market this week was twice as high for the NCAA women’s Final Four compared with that for the men’s semifinals, according to a technology company that analyzes prices across multiple platforms.

The average price of a ticket sold to the women’s semifinals was $2,323; the average sale price for the men’s was $1,001.21, Logitix reported Wednesday.

The women’s games Friday match Iowa against Connecticut and South Carolina against North Carolina State at the 19,432-seat Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. Including data from sales made a month ago and longer, the average price for the women’s semifinals is $1,131.78, compared with $400.29 for the same period in 2023.

The first points of the night go to the South Carolina Gamecocks, with guard Te-Hina Paopao sinking the first shot and helping get the team to a quick 5-0 start.

The Final Four teams introduced themselves in fresh female fashion, with teammate voiceovers hyping up "my girls" in pre-game videos that feature everything from beauty and lash tips to favorite on-court moves and nicknames.

Oh, and a sparkly basketball, of course.

The Final Four is officially underway for the women, and more people than ever are expected to watch this weekend's games.

Ratings for the tournament are expected to reach well into the double-digit millions. 

Soaring interest in the women’s game is the product of two main phenomena, experts say: a new batch of stars, including a once-in-a-generation player; and the increasing coverage those players now receive, thanks to greater investment from networks in broadcasting the games.

At the top of the star wave stands Caitlin Clark, Iowa guard who has broken not only the most records for scoring in the women’s game, but earlier this year surpassed Pete Maravich as the all-time leading NCAA career basketball scorer, period. Yet other stars are primed to keep the momentum going for the women’s games.

Read the full story here.

CLEVELAND — Rebecca Eskow said the women’s tournament “feels bigger this year,” adding that it’s “special” the women are getting so much attention.

AmberConnolly, from Iowa and a Hawkeyes fan, said “it’s pretty incredible” to see the excitement around women’s hoops.

“We grew up playing basketball and there was never this hype and following of it, so it’s pretty incredible to see it, see kids be able to see this stuff now too, it’s pretty cool,” she said.

Addyson McDermott said she thinks this hype will be an inspiration for young girls everywhere.

“I think it’s gonna really inspire them to work harder,” McDermott said.

The undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks beat Presbyterian in the first round, North Carolina in the second round, Indiana in the Sweet 16 and Oregon State in the Elite Eight to arrive at the Final Four stage. 

NC State had to knock out Chattanooga in the first round, Tennessee in the second round, Stanford in the Sweet 16 and Texas in the Elite Eight to make it to this year’s Final Four. 

The University of Utah women’s basketball team found themselves the victims of multiple racist attacks while they were staying in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, ahead of their first NCAA Tournament game in Spokane, Washington, on March 23.

Coach Lynne Roberts said at a news conference on March 21 that her team of Black, white and Latina athletes were subject to a series of “racial hate crimes.”

On Wednesday, Coeur d’Alene police said a racial slur was used against the team, possibly on more than one occasion. 

“We’ve identified an audio recording where the use of a racial slur was clearly audible,” the police department said on Facebook. It added that it “appears the use of a racial slur occurred more than one time.”

The team was relocated to a hotel closer to Spokane for their safety, Roberts said. 

South Carolina is a heavy favorite tonight over NC State in the booming world of sports gambling.

Most sportsbooks favor the Gamecocks by 11 or 11.5 points.

Iowa vs. UConn is much closer.

Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes are favored by 2.5 to 3.5 points over Paige Bueckers and the Huskies, depending on the sportsbook.

The books are also expecting Iowa v. UConn to be a higher scoring affair. The over/under for that game (a prediction for the points scored in the game on which bettors wager whether total points will be over or under that number) has been around 162.5.

The over/under for Souther Carolina v. NC State has been around 139.5.

CLEVELAND — Fans are already reveling in tonight's Final Four glory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, psyched to see all of the hype the women's game is finally getting.

For Jennifer Dunn, who said she played college basketball, seeing arenas sell out and knowing that tickets to the games are being sold for hundreds, if not thousands, "is generational and it’s one of those things that is super cool for these girls to see."

Makenna Dunn said it's "amazing" and "cool" to watch the women excel on the court.

"I want to be like them someday," she said.

The Dunns are rooting for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

No matter which team is crowned the national title, there's already one clear winner: women's basketball.

Earlier in the week, a record audience watched Iowa’s Caitlin Clark face off against LSU’s Angel Reese.

The Elite Eight game on Monday drew 12.3 million viewers, the most ever for a women’s college basketball game, easily topping the previous high of 9.9 million viewers who tuned in to last season’s championship matchup between the two teams, according to ESPN. 

The Iowa-LSU game was also its biggest betting event of all time for women’s sports, FanDuel told CNBC.

None of these four teams are strangers to the Final Four, but some are more familiar with it than others. 

UConn has been to the Final Four 23 times since their first appearance in 1991. 

This is Iowa’s third Final Four appearance; their first was in 1993. 

N.C. State is in the Final Four for just the second time, with their only other appearance in 1998. 

And South Carolina has been quite familiar with the big stage recently — this is their sixth appearance since 2015.

The NCAA women's semifinals tip off tonight at 7 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Catch the action on ESPN and stream on ESPN+ and FUBO. Here's when to catch the action.

Top-seed South Carolina vs. 3-seed N.C. State, 7 p.m. ET

Top-seed Iowa vs. 3-seed UConn 9:30 p.m. ET