Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers Face Off in Women’s Basketball Final Four
By Movieguide® Contributor
The NCAA women’s basketball March Madness tournament has been nothing short of entertaining, and sports fans are in for an exciting game as two of the top players in the country face off.
Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes will face Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET.
While there’s massive excitement for the matchup, the real hype is in the viewership these stars have attracted.
Per ESPN, “Iowa’s 94-87 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA tournament Monday night averaged 12.3 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen. That makes it one of the most-viewed games in any sport other than NFL football over the past year.”
“UConn’s win over USC in Monday’s other Elite Eight matchup drew 6.7 million viewers, which would have surpassed every title game viewership since 1996 except for last year’s championship. Viewership for UConn-USC peaked at 10.4 million viewers,” The Athletic reported.
In the Elite 8 game, Clark scored 41 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.
Bueckers also packed her stats as she secured 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Many predict Clark and the Hawkeyes will win, but they won’t count the Huskies out.
“Assuming Clark will get hers, the onus is on Bueckers to match her production. The UConn senior has never been as prolific a shot-hunter as Clark, but she has averaged nearly 28 points since the start of the conference tournament,” The Athletic reported. “The Huskies have a better defense on paper, but there is no challenge quite like defending Clark. The way she is rolling, it’s hard to bet against her putting together a storybook finish to her collegiate career.”
Gus Martin with the Des Moines Register wrote, “This is a terrific matchup on paper that can go either way. But Iowa gets the slight edge because of how well Clark is playing right now and her teammates repeated ability to follow her lead and rise to the occasion.”
Both athletes have been open about the impact faith has had on their lives.
Clark, who attended Dowling Catholic High School, told reporters in 2018, “We get to live our faith every day. Dowling starts every day with prayer and ends every day with prayer. This is a big reason why Dowling has such a special culture and is such a special place to go to school.”
Following an ACL tear that sidelined her for a season, Bueckers relied on God and trusted his plan.
“Part of me thinks it was God calling me to use this. I feel like I’m just gonna have a great story to tell by the end of it,” she told ESPN.
Movieguide® previously reported:
After missing over a year of basketball because of a torn ACL, Paige Bueckers returned to the court for the 2023-2024 season to showcase her talents and abilities once again.
Not only did the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team go undefeated in the regular conference season, but Bueckers also led her team to a conference championship.
She shared the win with her fans on social media in a series of photos with her and her team celebrating.
“Crazy Faith & a hol lot of heart. Big East Champs… Proud would be the under statement of the year,” Bueckers wrote.
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