Women’s Final Four 2024: With Paige Bueckers, Geno Auriemma, UConn is hardly a sleeper for national title

CLEVELAND – UConn guard Paige Bueckers recalled their last NCAA tournament matchup against Iowa – a 92-72 victory in the Sweet 16 on March 27, 2021 –  in true play-by-play fashion. 

Freshman year. COVID-bubble year. Sweet 16. Christyn Williams had a huge game. Then, Bueckers turned to Huskies coach Geno Auriemma. 

“I think that’s the game I slapped you on your butt,” Bueckers said. “So that was a fun game.” 

Paige Bueckers has fond memories of the last time UConn played Iowa.

“I think that’s the game I slapped you on your butt.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/kZ7VkF0ohk

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 4, 2024Auriemma twisted his face in faux agony while the media room erupted with laughter. That incident –  when Bueckers patted Auriemma, who was not looking, on the backside after Anna Makurat hit a late 3-pointer in the victory against the Hawkeyes – serves as an under-publicized reminder heading into the Women’s Final Four national semifinal matchup between No. 1 Iowa (33-4) and No. 3 UConn (33-5) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Friday. 

UConn beat Iowa in their last tournament matchup. The Huskies also beat the Hawkeyes 86-79 in the Phil Knight Legacy championship game on Nov. 27, 2022. Auriemma has led UConn to 23 Final Four appearances and 11 national championships – and that during a time when two programs ruled the sport. None of those championships count Friday on the court, but they are still part of the mystique. It is a rare chance to write it down and say it out loud. 

“Can the Huskies be a spoiler in the Final Four?” 

“I remember one time somebody asked one of the coaches before the NCAA Tournament, do you have a preference who you want to win the NCAA Tournament?” Auriemma said. “And it was a long-time coach, too. They said, ‘I don’t care, as long as it’s not Tennessee or Connecticut.'” 

This year’s Women’s Final Four contains the right mix of super-power program and superstar player. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the three-point headliner, and South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley bring a 36-0 record to Cleveland. No. 3 NC State – which will play in the first semi-final matchup – will take on the Gamecocks. The Wolfpack are the de facto Cinderella.  

UConn, of course, has Bueckers – who is averaging 28 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the tournament – and brings more than enough star power to this matchup. Bueckers was asked the same lineage of questions as Clark during media availability Friday, and the Huskies guard had almost identical answers. 

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“I know freshman year I was like the media darling,” Bueckers said. “Everybody was focused on me and what I did at UConn my freshman year, but I think it’s more important for the game to share the spotlight to grow the game and show all the stars of college basketball and not just focus on one particular player, whether it be me, Caitlin, JuJu, Angel. There’s so many names in college basketball now.” 

What did Clark say? 

“The biggest thing is, I think people should be able to appreciate multiple stars in our sport,” Clark said. “I think that’s something people need to glow on more. I think that will be great for women’s basketball and so good about moving our game forward.”

UConn center Alliyah Edwards is another one of those stars. The Kingston, Canada, native averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds this season – and she had the opportunity to play against Toronto Metropolitan University this season in a game that counted toward UConn’s record. 

“I think that was a big step for just women’s basketball in Canada because as our national team continues to grow, I think we’re also just growing women’s basketball in general,” Edwards said. “We’re not only a hockey country, we’re trying to be a basketball country, as well.” 

The super-power teams and superstars have always been there, and Auriemma said there is one more factor driving the game’s growth over the past few seasons.

“People weren’t even mentioning Caitlin Clark when Paige was a freshman,” Auriemma said. “It was all Paige, Paige, Paige. Now it’s all Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin. Had she left after her freshman year, like it would have been if she was a guy, or if Paige left they would have had to find somebody else. So, I think these players staying for four years, staying at the same school, hopefully, gives it a chance to grow, and it gives people a chance to fall in love with these kids.” 

Paige Bueckers has fond memories of the last time UConn played Iowa.

“I think that’s the game I slapped you on your butt.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/kZ7VkF0ohk

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 4, 2024Auriemma also was honest about that assessment of the Huskies this season. He would have agreed with a UConn vs. South Carolina championship game prediction in June, but injuries are among the factors that can derail that. The Huskies are still here, however, and they are underdogs against Iowa. 

“You have to look at your team, and you have to say, do we have an answer for everything that happens?” Auriemma said. “If the answer’s no, then you just have to cross your fingers and hope that thing doesn’t happen, or those two things that you know you have no answer for. So there’s a lot of things we don’t have an answer for in tomorrow’s game.”

Clark, of course, is one of those questions. She is averaging 32.5 points and 10 assists in the tournament, and the uncontrollable narrative about the matchup with Bueckers is in plain view – with different points of view. 

“I do not want this to be a game that’s promoted as Caitlin versus Paige,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I know it already has been, but I don’t want that. I want it to be Iowa versus UConn and let these two women do what they do best.”

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In this case, not-so-identical answers. 

“Who says it won’t?” Auriemma said. “Kids are competitive. They want the win. They know what’s going on out there. They know who’s who. They know what’s what. Caitlin comes down and makes a huge 3, don’t think that Paige is going to pass the next one up and pass it to somebody. So, I think there will be a little bit of that. But it won’t be – if I score more points than Caitlin, Connecticut’s going to win. It won’t be that at all.” 

It is a great moment for the sport and a weekend where the superstar programs and superstar players have aligned at the right time. It’s a moment that could lead to a series of events where, “The next thing you know, it becomes part of the national pastime,” Auriemma said.

In that regard, it’s a great thing UConn is in Cleveland. For those turning on the Huskies for the first time, what will happen? They will watch a superpower who is a 60-40 underdog against arguably the greatest women’s college basketball player of all time. The look-in observer likely isn’t rooting for more Huskies in this situation, but Auriemma said those viewers will have two experiences along the way. 

“One, they fall in love with all of my players because of the way they play and the way they conduct themselves,” Auriemma said before a pause. “And they go, yeah, he really is a s— head. So those two things will still be true on Friday.”