The banged up UConn Huskies may have entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, and they may not have been given much of a chance to reach the championship game, but the fact is that they are still dancing and only top-seeded Iowa stands in their way.
Only 3.5% of CBS' NCAA Women's Tournament Brackets had UConn winning it all this year. It's no wonder, given the injuries head coach Geno Auriemma has had to navigate. But this year UConn has a healthy Paige Bueckers, and, so far, that's been enough. Bueckers socred 28 points and gathered 10 rebounds in UConn's 80-73 win over JuJu Watkins and the region's top-seeded USC Trojans.
On any given day, Auriemma will have more scoring depth on his depleted bench than Lisa Bluder and Iowa. However, the Hawkeyes have showed time and time again that they aren't to be underestimated. Gabbie Marshall went 4-of-5 from the perimeter in Iowa's 89-68 win over Colorado. Kate Martin scored 21 points in Iowa's 94-87 win over LSU. Addison O'Grady played significant minutes in the paint to slow down Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow to advance Iowa to the Final Four.
Iowa has mostly dominated on its way back to the Final Four, with wins over Holy Cross by 26, West Virginia by 10, Colorado by 21 and LSU by seven. UConn, meanwhile, handled Jackson State before getting into battles with Syracuse, Duke and USC to get back to this point.
Let's take a closer look at how fans can catch the action on Friday night in Cleveland before tackling the key storyline to watch in the game below.
How to watch (3) UConn vs. (1) Iowa
Date: Friday, April 5 | Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse -- Cleveland, Ohio
TV: ESPN | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
UConn vs. Iowa: Key storyline
The key storyline is the matchup between Paige Bueckers and AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark. They entered the NCAA in the same recruiting class, but Bueckers was the diamond and Clark the under-the-radar player. Now at the Final Four, we have a healthy Bueckers and the superstar Clark who continues to break record after record.
The other day, Auriemma called Bueckers the best player in the country. Now that we officially have a UConn-Iowa matchup, he's jokingly walked back his comments.
"I know there's nothing personal between me and her. I don't need to be seeing her drop 50 on us next weekend," Auriemma joked Monday. "I think she's the best player. Forget I ever said Paige is the best player in the country. I think [Caitlin's] the best player of all-time. I don't know whoever said Paige is the best player."
Either way, Auriemma will have his UConn team try to do their best to slow the rest of Iowa down because he says there's no stopping Clark.
Who wins Iowa vs. UConn, and what critical x-factor makes one side of the spread hit hard? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread hits, all from the expert who's up 371 units since the start of the 2021-22 season, and find out.
