Their defense was phenomenal but their offense was lacking. Like Paige said in post presser it doesn’t come down to one call. Can’t wait for next season.
I think UConn did the unimaginable this season. 6 members out for the majority of the season, injuries, playing 49 minutes night in and night out, they played AMAZINGLY and made it to the Final Four, but it wasn’t enough to take it from the Golden Child Clark this season. Next season UConn will be unstoppable if they get everyone healthy. Clark is leaving, and Iowa will fall early next year. UConn’s dynasty will live on through Paige, Aubrey, and hopefully Azzi and Caroline. Deberry needs to step up or step out. Ashlynn and KK STEPPED UP this season and helped immensely. Ice has potential to be the BIG. Jana, Ines, and Q will need to make their presence known next season. Great season for everyone. Good season guys thank you for all that you did for the platform and keeping us all informed.
lol imagine needing to assemble the avengers to stop one player. Like you said iowa will fall next year and UConn will still be a top team like they have been for the last 15 years. That’s CC greatness
You two are fantastic! Great love and good health to you so that we can have another great season coming up! They tried to do the impossible, and really, they did. God! I'll miss those two! How lucky we were to have them!
It was a good season. I didn’t expect us to win. But we were right there. Needed a bit more from Paige tonight. I thought KK and Nika were great in this game.
Because of this loss, UConn's defensive effort will quickly be forgotten. But they played the best defense on Clark that she has seen all season. Nika played her best game ever in a UConn uniform tonight. Many Hawkeye fans thought they could just roll over us. Our Huskies put up a fight. Kk was awesome and Geno is the best to ever do it. I love this team. I am so proud. Go watch the postgame press conference. Very classy responses from our lady Huskies. What a season.
@@LukeSchmidt89 lol no shit UConn is one of the best or if not best programs in college womens basketball. And Iowa is no where near that level but because of how good Caitlin is, they actually have a chance to beat these stacked teams
@@steviekinzey2304 you did not 😂 any platform I saw was they wanted Iowa to win not that they will steam roll them 😂 also how did you know they were Hawkeye fans?
Uconn showed signs of exhaustion in the second half. There was no more "gas in the tank". What they've done this season was heroic, indeed "Homeric"! I have nothing but love for all of them!
Paige looked sick. Her eyes were black and sunken in. A lot of people didn't think Uconn would do anything. They overachieved. They played some of the best defense I've ever seen.
@@plainsman it was a foul. there is an angle where it appears to not be a foul all over social media. But there is another angle where it is as clear as day.
It's your second sentence that suggests why it shouldn't have been called. Contact like that happens all the time and is uncalled. Yet you are going to call it with 4 seconds left in a one possession game?
Missed free throw,. turnovers but they had to give that game to that media darling Catlin. When UCONN was making that last run you know Iowa was gonna win.🤫
Missed free throws..UConn was 3 of 4, the amazing thing is they only had 4, another testament to poor officiating. Turnovers they has some, some were bogus..that one in the corner on Paige. 1st she pushed in the back, then on the replay it clearly went of. Marshall on a defensive rebound. crashed into Nika's back, which made her take out Aliyah, clear foul. IA gets the board & easy bucket as 2 players are down and can't get into the play on the pushup court. The officials clearly had an agenda to get SC vs IA. NCAA is driven by story lines they want & tv match ups they want. The brackets for years have been manipulated to that end. Look at this year ...how the hell is ND a #2 seed, they weren't even in the top 16 in the reveal 10 days before. IA vs LSU seed were set up to get that rematch of the 2023 championship game. UConn vs OSU rematch is what they wanted, didn't happen. Seeds manipulated to try to get it, UConn won their conf tourney & actually dropped a spot, while OSU lost in the semis to an unranked team & stayed the same. That makes no sense. They wanted IA vs SC final for the story line of rematch of the team that stopped SC's perfect season in 2023 & they can hype Clark as the goat, which is ludicrous. Many players have done way more in winning, etc... Silly people get dazzled by distance of 3's ,,,they all count the same & she actually takes a bunch of bad shots & is not efficient at all.
What an incredible season! That last call was bull****, but UConn had many chances to put IOWA away, and they all fell short as Paige said. I am disappointed Paige didn’t shoot more shots? Was she afraid to upstage Caitlin? She passed a lot for some reason. This loss was truly a team effort with to many missed shots! However, I am glad they lost here then go into the final, like two years ago, and get blown out by SC! It hurts more to lose in a national championship game than in the final four. We would not have had the offensive power this year to out score SC to win. I would have been pissed to lose TWO NC games to SC! So excellent season ladies! You went above and beyond fans expectations! Go huskies!
@@kyleelsbernd7566 This morning on ESPN Rebecca Lobo declared it certainly was a foul and that while unfortunate for UConn, it should have been called.
You don't end the game on a screen call with only 3.1 seconds to go especially in the Final 4. It wouldn't ever happen in the pros, it would never happen in the mens Final 4 and it should not have happened here. Until it was blatant and it wasn't blatant and if you look Gabby Marshall angled left into Aliyah and that's why it should've been a no call. Paige might've missed it but the call made the game so anti-clamatic. Let the players play it out. Great season though girls. I'm a UConn fan through and through but on Sunday I will be a huge South Carolina fan for just one day. Iowa kind of had a, winning was never a doubt kind of attitiude after the game. Not wanting to admit there's a very good chance if Paige would've taken the pass from Nika and took 2 steps going to her right and then shot it, guess who would be playing on Sunday. I'll give you a hint...it wouldn't be Iowa.
I just want to give a shoutout to Geno and the entire coaching staff along with the trainers and medical staff. What they accomplished not only this year, but since the 2020 class first assembled at Storrs. Cannot just overlook what might have been if they had been healthy the past 4 years, from COVID and all the injuries, especially the season ending injuries. I do not know if Geno received any coach of the year votes, but if he did not then whoever, need to get their heads out of their a_ _ _ s. The team can all hold their heads high, they never quit these past two years. To Nika all the best young lady, your competitiveness and compassion for this game was on display every game and to Aaliyah also for your grit and toughness. Both your jerseys will be hanging high above the floor in Gampel one day. So now we move forward, with what appears to be a strong foundation for next year and beyond, especially with today's announcement of Sarah Strong ( still shocked she did not go to SC). It's OK to be disappointed, part of the process so they say.
Players that go to teams like SC or LSU don't improve their game. If you want to improve your game and go pro it's UCONN. Another example is Texas with Vic.
SARAH STRONG commits to UCONN. Paige running the point. Ziebell & Ash on the corners shooting 3's. Strong & Jana around the paint...First off the bench...KK & Brady ? Tennessee has Rocky Top. Did you know the Ct. state song is "Yankee Doodle" ? Let's hear Yankee Doodle........
The network I believe got what they wanted but is it too late for the networks? Are the networks making up a call from Caitlin in the LSU game last year? Hope not.
Because of course Paige would blame herself in the post game. That's what the greats do. They carry the load, win or lose. That said: YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT MAKE THAT CALL!! Don't come at me with, "Oh if they would have done this" bullshit. YOU DON'T MAKE THAT CALL!! Paige lives for that shot!! By making that call they also took away from Iowa as well. They will never know if Paige hits that shot or not. Paige was made to take that shot!! And it was ripped from her. And it wasn't just taken from her, it was taken from the women's game itself. Just terrible!!! We should be talking about how special this group of Women are. But instead their hard work and sacrifices were snuffed out by a BULLSHIT call! Peace, fellas. SMH.
I agree with your comment but I would also add this Paige Bueckers was barely here tonight. She made no elite effort whatsoever to try to take the game over and win she stood in the background, very disappointing.
Paige and Aaliyah were no shows tonight, i’m really disappointed in their lackluster, effort big-time players make big-time plays in those two did not come to play.
@@robertwhite8253 Well said I 100% agree with you! Paige made no elite effort to take control and win this game she stood around and watched it happen.
So at what point of a game and which fouls don’t get called. And yes, after more than 69 years of playing and watching basketball at every possible level, THAT WAS A STUPID FOUL. Set it properly, and on time, and it would have been called. Genius knew that immediately.
i didn't see it as a ticky-tack foul. i've seen violations that weren't called at the end of games that were decisive, imo. just one example --- rams vs saints with the super bowl on the line.
@@nathanthompson3401you will have no problem for a team to use fouls to win a game but you have a problem with them calling an actual foul that was correct 😂 hypocrites
Great content during this season Listen Up! UCONN overachieved to get as far as they did. It's all about next year for that team. Tremendous final game by Nika; she showed a lot of heart. The screen call was unfortunate, but the play called to get Paige the shot had too many moving parts. Would have preferred for the inbound pass to go directly to Paige and trust her to figure something out. Congrats to Iowa for surviving and backing up what they did last year, and I hope they pull off the upset against SC.
Based on the 15 scholarships allowed, there is one scholarship open after Allie Ziebell and Morgan Cheli incoming freshmen. I hope Sarah Strong takes that last scholarship. If not Geno needs to find a replacement for Aaliyah in the transfer portal. Is there any center or power forward that appears enticing for Geno? BTW, KK and Shade's playing time will be curtailed significantly next year due to the return of AF, CD, AP, JE, and AG. Then there are also Ice and Q.
@@robertwhite8253 Yeah, Q is in a tough spot. Is she a guard or a wing? As a guard, she is not a good ballhandler and inconsistent shooter, and she is too small as a forward. Just remember that Mir and Saylor got the playing time elsewhere but their teams did not go anywhere. If they had stayed they could have played an important role when all the injured players were out.
@@captain0310 she’s a guard if given an opportunity like Dawn Staley does her players she could thrive. Hell staying at UCONN ain’t producing championships either, so why not go somewhere else and play. Today’s kids want to play they don’t want to sit on the bench.
Replacement found long term....Sarah Strong #1 overall player class of 2024 Forward committed to UConn saturday morning. Ideally Deberry transfers home to Univ of Buffalo & they have a spot to get a grad transfer. All of the bigs will be sophomores(Brady, Patterson) or freshmen(El Alfy, Strong)
PB was guarded by one Iowa player and held to 17 points. A great job by the Marshall woman . The knee injuries certainly impacted her career at UConn. You have to wonder what would have happened if she went elsewhere. GA sometimes has too many 5 stars. His resume looks great, and there is a raft of WNBA players. With the quick and fast smaller players evolving, he may need to reconsider so many tall players that struggle with smaller and faster players that can run the court.
I think Nika played the game of her life. Paige’s game was a little lackluster, but so was Clarks. With the style of tight defense, UConn plays it’s not hard to understand why foul trouble is a issue. That illegal screen called at the end was a Heart breaker. I can understand calling that if it was blatant. But it was very questionable at best. They just handed the game to Iowa.😢 I hate to say this, but the one saving grace to this is, the Huskies went down in an epic battle. Both teams were lining up to see who is going to get spanked by South Carolina. Would you rather go down in an epic battle or get spanked in the finals by 20 or 30 points. I am currently rooting for Iowa in the finals but I don’t think them winning is realistic.
If we had won this game. We were not beating South Carolina in the championship. If we want Geno to win one more title. We need to close the gap on South Carolina. I hope the coaches will obsess about that over the summer.
Geno has formulated perfect rosters the last 3 years to win, just decimated by injuries. how good do you think they would have been last year with Paige working with Senechal. Also Fudd missed 1/2 the year, not 100% for tourney, Ducharme also not good to pllay. You really think if he has Fudd(44% from 3's), Griffin(rebounder, athletic defender, slasher to the rim), Ducharme(big guard, rebounder, just under 40% from 3's) they don't win last night? Also, with El Alfy 6-5(a body to battle other bigs like Cardoza, so Edwards doesn't) and Patterson 6-3(tough physical rebounder to battle Watkins, et al) they aren't right with SC all year. UConn would have been at worst #2 overall seed. They should have made the final without them.
I don’t agree with this premise. These rosters feature too many finesse/skilled players. Even if everyone were healthy, I like South Carolina to win that hypothetical matchup. Need more size and athleticism.
Anything can happen in basketball. The last few games this year. SC started showing some weakness. Pressure getting to them ? Last year Iowa knocked SC out in the F4. During 2018 & 2019. UCONN went undefeated going into the F4. But lost in the F4 both years. In 1997, UCONN was undefeated entering the tournament, but lost in the elite 8.
South Carolina isnt going anywhere. They lost their entire starting five from last year and here they are again with a completely new squad and they recruit just as good as Uconn.
The foul was called with 4 seconds left. Honestly, it didn't look like Uconn was going to even get a shot up with just 4 seconds left. So I'm not sure the foul call mattered on the end. Also, if you don't want a foul call, don't foul.
Aaleya ang Paige were good but not great this game. The call at the end was a poor one Aaleya had her feet set. She raised her arms to protect herself just before Gabby ran into her. You never call that at the end of the game. KK and Ice were great. No big game jitters. Nika played pretty good. She doesn't always play good against big teams. The last 2 games she did though. Ash and Paige looked wore out. I don't think KK will ever get worn out
I have only six thing to say: Nika was the UCONN MVP last night with her D and three amazing 3's. I'll miss you so much. KK appears as if she's maturing. Not so much out of control the last few games. The referees disproportional calling of fouls was blatant. The game was taken away from UCONN. After CC leaves. Iowa will go the way of Arizona. A bunch of has beens. I hate Dawn Staley and S.C. But on Sunday night I'll be rooting for S.C. to put a beat down on Iowa by 25 points. (But this is a one time deal). No victory cigar last night. But I enjoyed watching Sabrina Carpenter videos for about an hour.
Iowa falling next year just speaks to the greatness of Caitlin Clark. She’s playing power house schools and looked at as favorites. And nobody talks about how 21/7/9 is looked at as a bad game if it’s Caitlin but any other player is getting praised for this stat line
This morning on ESPN Rebecca Lobo declared it certainly was a foul and that while unfortunate for UConn, it should have been called. As for Iowa, they have a 6ft. guard and 12th ranked player nationally coming in next year, Mr. Expert.
@@plainsman BIG DEAL...UCONN just signed Sarah Strong this morning...the #1 recruit. 5 star with a grade of 98. They had already signed Ally Ziebell...the #4 player in the class. 5 star with a grade also 98. Lets not forget they also signed Morgan Cheli, #18 in the ESPN recruiting class. 5 star with a grade of 96. Checked out Iowa on the ESPN. The highest ranked recruit is #40. That doesn't equate to a #12. The only 6 foot guard Iowa recruited is Teagan. Teagan is a 4 star with a ranking of 93. Iowa also recruited two 5' 8" guards with a grade of 91 & 93. They recruited a post player . 4 star with a grade of 94. Yes, I am an expert. More of an expert than you'll ever be. Iowa will go back to mediocrity next year without CC. You can bet your Pampers on it. 🏀
Like you said one call doesn't decide the game. UConn called for eighteen fouls and Iowa only nine. Iowa making ten out of fourteen free throws while UConn made three out of four. Iowa vs South Carolina brings in the money. It's not correct to say this but think about it. Without the free throws UConn wins by five points.
Gino robbed UConn. The refs were correct: Under the rules of basketball a screener must have feet set, can't lean into a player, can't stick elbows into ribs. It's a clear foul impacting a key play. Correct call. The ''eye test'' reason people don't like it is because it's like a 'slow motion' foul, just inches of movement cause it, instead of being a hacking or running full speed foul. There were much much lighter touch fouls called earlier in the game, for example Caitlin's 4 point play when the UConn player barely touched her fingers after the ball left her hand, or in the first half when Clark was also called for two very light finger touch fouls. (There is no outcry about the touch fouls called on Clark though, the media infecting people with the anti-Clark narrative - still in denial that a girl from Iowa could break every record and beat every loaded five star team). The refs did an okay job for once, despite allowing UConn to get away with a lot of heavier fouls while playing on the nose shove and pull man-to-man full court while calling Iowa for light touch fouls. Don't believe me, watch the tape. The real travesty for Uconn was the play calling where genius Gino calls a play where Aaliyah, who moves slowly laterally, has to establish a screen against the fastest lateral movement player on the court, Marshall, in congestion against the sideline instead of just running a simple pick-and-roll at the top of the key where Paige would have room to work. One of his many mistakes. UConn was lucky to be in this game at all and only because of Iowa's unusually low shooting percentage. If Iowa shot as they normally do they would have won by 10 to 20 points. Immense credit to the UConn D that threw Iowa off balance, and the refs that let them do so. Then... Iowa Team Play Makes a Hard Fought Comeback Against Loaded All-Star Team should be the headline. The sub story should be : The Entire UConn Team Holds Clark Below a Triple Double While Gabbie Marshall Alone Corrals Paige
How about this one non-call Iowa committed. The Iowa player with the ball extended her hand totally knocking the UCONN defender almost on her sweet butt. I'll be waiting for replays so that I can identify the dastardly Iowa player.........But one of many non calls committed by the golden girls team.
@@arthur-ri4zo Golden girls LOL yes it's a massive conspiracy, and you discovered it! How did these The Golden girls ever be South carolina, the only team to do so in the last year's or Ohio State or indiana, louisville, Kentucky state, colorado, UConn, lsu, lol
UCONN didn't take care of the ball and missed easy shots. It was really theirs to lose. Paige looked really tired in the second half. Im gonna miss Nika!
I BELIEVE IT WAS MANIPULATED to reward Clark for signing up. This is what I was afraid of the referees take over the game. Imagine if UCONN won it is not a good image for IOWA eho has beaten LSU and the loss of VIPs who put their money to IOWA it is all business, money money money money…..
Not going to watch the Champ game b/c it's fixed to the NCAA agenda. They designed the bracket for certain match ups they wanted for tv & made sure it happened(LSU/IA seed, ND #2 seed, bailed out SC in unexpected tight games with BS fouls on Beers, & Holmes, while letting SC play goon ball, etc...). However, I guarantee they won't call illegal screens like that tomorrow .SC sets a bunch of them, Cardoza is the main culprit, along with Watkins. Nor will they call it on IA, which does it all the time & did against UConn. They were trying to run Clark off of double screens to shake Nika and they set plenty of illegal ones.
Whichever team lost would look back and sèe a few dozen little things that might have made a difference. UConn had 18 fouls called against them. Iowa had 9. UConn was 3-4 from line. Iowa 10-14. 7 point swing. Paige was correct that had UConn done a few more things right, then the game would not have been in the officials hands to be able to give the win to the Golden Child
talk talk talk about missing shots; read the effing box score Iowa: 14 freethrows UConn: 4 freethrows You're seriously going to conclude that Iowa's defense was that clean the ENTIRE game???? UConn wins with three more made freethrows
I'm proud of those girls...but...In the Final 4 game against Iowa. Paige's shooting wasn't the greatest. Nika played lock down defense in the first half. In the second half Paige & KK couldn't cover CC. Aaliyah Edwards cost UCONN the game with 3.9 seconds left. For four years continually making stupid fouls. Last year she caused UCONN to lose by fouling out and playing 19 minutes against Ohio State. Tonight she continued her idiotic play. Why does Edwards continually get called for blocking fouls & offensive fouls. She is not a top 3 WNBA draftee. Edwards cost UCONN a meeting with South Carolina Sunday night.
Another beech on my mind. Why does Edwards continually blow easy and uncontested layups when she's in the paint. The Edwards foul with 3.9...I thought paramedics would be called. I thought Geno was having a heart attack. 🚑........With the lock down D Nika executed on CC in the first half. She can hold her head high. Her draft stock had to go up tonight....CORRECTION: Last year against Ohio State Edwards played 18 minutes, not 19. It's always in the BIG GAMES she does this.
@@arthur-ri4zo AE is a good player, not a very good player. She disappears in the big games. Same thing with Nika making bad passes in the crucial moment and getting silly fouls. The freshman Shade was invisible tonight. It's one of those things, you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. I can't wait to see two sharpshooters Allie and Morgan next year.
Morgan is not a sharpshooter. Allie looked really unathletic in the McDonald’s all American game. They deserve a chance. But they have their own question marks.
@@TheDisruptiveOne Ziebell won the 3 point shooting contest at Micky D's. Then competed against the boys 3 point champion. Ziebell beat the boys champion in the 3 point contest. 🏀
I didn’t say anything bad about ziebell’s shooting ability. Especially her exhibition shooting ability. I do wonder how much UConn scouted her though. I think Howell and Swords look more ready to hit the ground running. (Again. This is due to ziebell’s athleticism. Ziebell may struggle to guard at the college level.)
You don't make that call with 9 sec left in the game. Let the players decide the game, not the refs..Terrible call....I don't see Iowa beating SC at all...Too much talent and height......
the call was trash. the network got the matchup they wanted but to be honest did it really matter who won there is no possible way anyone is going to beat south carolina
