What happened last time Paige Bueckers, UConn played in the Final Four? Controversial decider and aftermath of famous battle with Caitlin Clark
UConn star Paige Bueckers led the No. 2-seeded Huskies to the Final Four after beating the No. 1-seeded USC Trojans 78-64 in their Elite Eight clash on Monday. Bueckers continued her stellar form at the Big Dance registering 31 points, three rebounds and six assists against the Trojans.
It was the Huskies' second consecutive Final Four appearance. Last year, Bueckers went toe-to-toe with the record-breaking Caitlin Clark who headlined the dominant Iowa Hawkeyes.
It was an epic matchup most college basketball fans had hoped to witness as the two Naismith National Player of the Year winners went head-to-head. Paige Bueckers finished the Final Four clash against the Iowa Hawkeyes with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, but the Hawkeyes won 71-69 on a controversial note.
With 4.6 seconds left and the Hawkeyes leading 70-69, the referee controversially called an offensive foul on former UConn star Aaliyah Edwards while setting a screen for Paige Bueckers to take a shot, allowing Clark to settle the game with a free throw.
The incident caused much discourse on social media as the Huskies missed the chance to reach the national championship game against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Iowa locked down Paige Bueckers in Final Four clash
Although she finished the Final Four clash against the Hawkeyes with 17 points, Paige Bueckers was well marshaled by Iowa's Gabbie Marshall, allowing only four points after halftime.
During her postgame news conference, Marshall revealed how the Hawkeyes schemed around stopping the talented Bueckers.
"I truly knew that they were going to try to get it to Paige," Marshall said. "I didn't know how it was going to happen. But I just tried to stay on her hip. Glad I got the call. We knew coming in that she was one of the best in our game, and we needed to have a lot of attention on her.
"I was going to try to deny her the ball wherever she was, and even if we were in the zone we always had to know where she was. I always like to go against the best of the best. When you can defend Paige to the best of your ability like that it ranks up there. This was a fun one."
Caitlin Clark and Co. proceeded to the national championship game where they were overwhelmed by coach Dawn Staley's unbeaten South Carolina Gamecocks to fall short of the natty two years in a row. After that, the dominant Hawkeyes team broke up, with Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin heading to the WNBA via the draft.
The UConn Huskies lost Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards to the WNBA, but Paige Bueckers has already declared her intention to return to college basketball for an extra year. She has led the UConn Huskies back to the Final Four with a chance at redemption and with a chance to win a national championship, the one accolade missing from Clark's cabinet.