No. 3 UConn, No. 1 Iowa to Clash in NCAA Final Four

CLEVELAND – The third-seeded UConn women's basketball team (33-5) faces off against No. 1-seed Iowa (33-4) in the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Final Four on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The game will air on ESPN, the UConn Sports Network from Learfield (FOX Sports 97-9) and Westwood One.

UConn enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed for the third time in program history (1991, 2005). This is UConn's 35th overall and straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, dating back to the 1988-89 season. UConn is 136-23 overall in the NCAA Tournament, which is the winningest record in the sport. The Huskies have advanced to the NCAA Final Four for a record 23rd-straight time. UConn is 12-10 all-time in the Final Four game.

Redshirt junior Paige Bueckers notched 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals to lead the Huskies past top-seeded USC, 80-73, in the Elite Eight. Senior Aaliyah Edwards notched 24 points and six rebounds in the win. The Huskies shot 48.3% in the game and used greater than 50% field goal shooting in the second half to take the lead. Bueckers was named the Portland 3 Region Most Outstanding Player while Edwards was selected to the All-Tournament team.

UConn is 6-3 all-time vs. Iowa. The Huskies have won the last six meetings between the teams and the current UConn roster is 2-0 vs. Iowa. This is the second NCAA Tournament meeting for the teams after facing off in the 2021 Sweet 16, a 92-72 UConn win.

Iowa advanced to its second-straight Final Four with a 94-87 win over No. 3-seed LSU in the Albany 2 Region. The Hawkeyes are led by Caitlin Clark, who's the nation's leader in points (32.0) and assists (9.0). Iowa leads the nation with 91.9 points per game. Head coach Lisa Bluder is in her 24th season at Iowa.