CLEVELAND — Iowa‘s Caitlin Clark and UConn‘s Paige Bueckers both stressed that Friday’s national semifinal showdown between the Hawkeyes and the Huskies (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) was all about their teams, not them.
UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who is coaching in the women’s Final Four for the 23rd time, sees the individual superstar matchup in a more historical lens. He recalls the 1979 men’s national championship game between Magic Johnson (Michigan State) and Larry Bird (Indiana State) as helping elevate not just March Madness but the NBA.
“[With] Magic and Bird, TV all of a sudden started paying more attention,” Auriemma said during Thursday’s sessions with media at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. “Those two particular players came on, and it just lit everything up, and it just took off from there.
“So [the game] needs some stars. It needs people that have the right personality, the right game. And we have that now.”
That’s true with two guards who are must-watch standouts. Clark leads the nation in scoring (32.0 PPG) and assists (9.0 APG);…
