CLEVELAND — Iowa State head coach Lisa Bruder was smiling as she walked down the tunnel at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Caitlin Clark and Hannah Stelke walked in front of her as the team headed to a media press conference as winners of Friday night’s second semifinal game. The Hawkeyes will play South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday.
The game, in which No. 1 seed Iowa defeated No. 3 UW 71-69, was headlined as a “Paige vs. Caitlin” matchup before tipoff, but when the buzzer sounded, Many people asked about the controversial decision by officials of the four players. Few seconds left in the game.
Iowa’s Gabby Marshall, tasked with guarding Paige Bueckers whenever she was on the court, drew an offensive foul call for a moving screen set on Marshall by senior Aliyah Edwards. I was at Booker’s.
Bruder talked about the strength of Marshall’s defense throughout the tournament. And there couldn’t have been a better moment for her defensive skills to come in handy.
“My mindset going into the game was to stay on her hip,” Marshall said. “Try to annoy her a little bit and be even tougher. By the end you find out they’re trying to set up a lot of screens on her (the Bookers). You’re on her hip. And they can’t get inside you. And I know that, so if I stay on her hips, it’s a moving screen. I thought it was a great call. I’m glad it happened. It was a big hold-up when I needed it.”
Marshall said as soon as he heard the whistle, he knew it was a moving screen call. She celebrated by pumping her fist and shouting to the crowd.
“I had a lot of emotions because I knew what a big stop it was,” she said.
Marshall added that he always loves the game when he is tasked with making it difficult for the opponent’s best players. She said this defensive performance ranks pretty high in her career.
“When I’m able to protect a player like Paige to the best of my ability, it ranks as some of the most fun games for me.”
UConn, on the other hand, came into the press conference looking visibly devastated and a little shocked.
“It’s hard to explain how it felt when the season came to an abrupt end. But we put ourselves in a position where we could win games that we probably weren’t in a position to be in, given the situation we were dealing with.” ,” UW head coach Geno Auriemma said.
UW was a team riddled with injuries this season, losing many key players and lacking depth throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Asked for his thoughts on the moving screen call, Edwards said he wasn’t briefed on the foul call, adding that he didn’t have time to actually get one. She said it was pretty pretty from her own perspective.
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“I thought we executed him. [the play] Well, I was going to take a shot,” Bakkers said. “I was just about to walk off the screen. Everybody can make a big fuss over that one play of his, but in a basketball game he doesn’t win or lose one play. .”
Many will debate whether the call was correct and wonder what magic Bookers could have pulled off as the clock ticked down.
“You can look at one play and say that killed us or that hurt us… but we should have done a better job than left the game to chance like that. I should have done a better job,” Bakkers said.
