Class in defeat. Grit in victory. So much to love in the Iowa vs. UConn game – Terry Pluto (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – There has been so much to savor about the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.

Let’s start with a trait not always on display in big games. UConn lost 71-69 to Iowa. A key play was an illegal screen called on Huskies star forward Aaliyah Edwards with 3.9 seconds left. More about that in a moment.

But first, a personal story. I was watching the game at home with my wife Roberta, who played on the first women’s basketball team in Hiram College history. That was in 1975.

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Why mention Roberta? Because there are thousands of women like her who played in the early days of women’s college basketball when it seemed hardly anyone cared about the sport – or ever would pay attention.

Earlier in the week, I wrote a story about Baldwin Wallace women’s coach Cheri Harrer (688-246 career record). She was a player in the early 1980s. She has been BW’s head coach since 1990. She had losing records in her first two years, then 32 consecutive winning seasons.

“It’s amazing to see that it’s cool to watch women’s basketball,” she said. “The exposure now is something I never dreamed we’d see.”

The tournament in Cleveland has the feel of the Men’s Final Four. They are playing in a sold-out NBA arena with a massive ESPN audience tuning in.

DID YOU SEE THE PHYSICAL PLAY?

During the game, we both were astounded by the bone crunching picks, the elbows thrown, the players fearlessly tossing their bodies to the court for loose balls. Women’s basketball is physical, but this looked a little like the NBA of the 1990s.

UConn did a tremendous job of trying to keep the ball out of the hands of Iowa star Caitlin Clark. They often double-teamed her. They made it hard for her when she was moving without the ball, putting bodies in her way.

They did exactly what I’d tell my team to do facing Clark. No cheap shots, but make every step as hard as possible. Let’s see what the officials will call, which wasn’t much. The officials generally took the approach of letting the players decide the game. There were only 18 total free throws in the game.

THAT LAST CALL

The lack of foul calls was why the UConn folks were outraged about the illegal screen call. It was a foul (and looked like it on the replay), but why blow a whistle now, given the physical nature of the game. That was UConn’s view.

After the game, UConn coach Geno Auriemma talked about his team being whistled for “three or four” illegal screens, adding that Iowa had none.

At that point, I thought, “Here we go, dump on the officials.”

Then the coach said: “Whether (it was) the right call, wrong call ... we had no control over the call on the screen. But we had control over whether we got the rebound or not. If we secured that rebound (on a missed free throw), now we have one more chance to win the game. We didn’t do it. You can say all you want. Yes we should have won the game, but we didn’t deserve to win the game by the way we played the last couple of possessions.”

UConn star Paige Bueckers said:

“Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game. You can look at one play and say, oh, that killed us or that hurt us. But we should have done a better job -- I should have done a better job of making sure we didn’t leave the game up to chance like that and leave the game up to one bad call [not] going our way and that deciding it.”

With so many casual fans paying attention to the game, I hope they saw how UConn handled defeat.

WHAT ABOUT CAITLIN CLARK?

Before we look at how the Iowa star played, here’s a question: What player had the most rebounds and assists in this game?

It was Clark with nine rebounds. Clark also tied UConn’s Nika Muhl with eight assists. Muhl also did a superb job defending Clark.

The Iowa star then was an example of what a great player can do when the shots are banging off the rim. The 6-foot Clark hit the boards. She is an incredible passer. The senior also kept her poise, which was a challenge early in her career.

“It’s been her maturity and her leadership” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “This kind of game, a few years ago, she would have gotten so frustrated. She would have been really upset in the huddles. She wasn’t that at all. And sometimes people can feed off of her if she is emotionally in a bad way. I thought her composure in the huddle, even when things weren’t going well for her in the first half, was really a sign of her growth.”

Both teams displayed tremendous emotional control in a game that was so physical with the stakes so high.

MORE GOOD STUFF TO COME

Clark missed all six of her 3-point shots in the first half. She had only six points at the intermission.

After halftime, she began to drive to the rim. She scored 15 points. She was 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

“Sometimes what happens as a shooter, you get a little cold,” said Clark. “The biggest thing is don’t fall in love with the 3-point shot. Get in the paint. Get some easy baskets. That’s kind of what I did.”

That quote should hang on the wall of every locker room at every level.

The leading scorer in this game was Hannah Stuelke, a post-player with 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting. She made UConn pay for all the attention they gave Clark.

This woman who has a 3.6 GPA in marketing (and already a millionaire with her commercials) made a point of praising her teammates:

“It’s not just me. It’s not just one player. That’s not what this is,” Clark said. “We wouldn’t be at this point right now if it was just one player. Everybody comes up and makes really big plays when we need them.”

Now, Iowa faces undefeated South Carolina Sunday at 3 p.m. I can’t wait to watch it.

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