"I think it's super special": Caitlin Clark shares her thoughts on Iowa Hawkeyes' 'exciting' 2024 March Madness run
Caitlin Clark led the Iowa Hawkeyes to the Final Four once again. April 2nd marked the day the team battled the defending national champion, the LSU Tigers, who had defeated them in last season's title game. The final score of 94-87 confirmed a berth in the Final Four for the Hawkeyes.
Clark keeps making the remarkable look almost expected. She poured in 41 points on Tuesday night to lead the Hawkeyes past LSU in the Elite Eight to put Iowa into back-to-back Final Fours for the first time in school history.
But after becoming college basketball's all-time leading scorer last month and being in a position to sweep national Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, Clark is still excited to keep chasing Iowa's first national championship.
" It's super special. ... Our team is just kind of fighting to play another week, adn this is the last week of the season no matter what," Clark said. "So, i think more than anything, we're just excited, and this experience is special. We had it last year, but this one will be unique in itself, too. So, just enjoying every single second."
Iowa (33-4), the No. 1 seed from its region, is all set to meet the UConn Huskies (33-5), the No. 3 seed from its region for the Final Four in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday. This highly anticipated game between Clark and Paige Bueckers promises to draw the attention of basketball fans around the world.
There have been just two instances where UConn and Iowa have met. Their first matchup was during 2021's Sweet 16, with the final score of 92-72 in favor of the Huskies. This was followed by a second meeting at the Phil Knight Legacy Championship in Portland, where UConn once again emerged victorious with a score of 86-79.
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Caitlin Clark once dreamed of playing for UConn
As Caitlin Clark's historic college career nears its end, her team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, is a top seed, reaching the Final Four for the second year in a row. A national title is one of the few honors that Clark has yet to achieve and to attain it, Iowa must compete against the Huskies.
Clark opened up about her history with UConn, saying that she once dreamed of attending the institute. However, her dream did not come to fruition. According to ESPN, UConn's head coach Geno Auriemma stated that Clark never communicated her desire to join the Huskies, and they did not recruit her due to a prior commitment to Bueckers.
As a child, Clark was exposed to the UConn dynasty of the 2010s. The Huskies went to every Final Four from 2008 to 2019, winning six national titles, including four in a row. Four of those championship teams went undefeated, and UConn rolled off a 111-game winning streak from November 2019 to March 2017.
As for Clark's inspiration, she said that she looked up to former UConn star Maya Moore, who later played in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx.
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