The lone missing gem in Caitlin Clark’s infinity gauntlet is a national championship.
The Iowa phenom has broken the all-time Division I basketball scoring record, captured three Big 10 championships and won back-to-back Naismith National Player of the Year awards given to the best college basketball player in the country.
She has a chance to complete her college career on top of the mountain when the No. 1 Hawkeyes take on the No. 3 Connecticut Huskies in the Final Four semifinal in Cleveland.
Head coach Lisa Bluder, an Iowa native, is in her 24th season at the helm of the program. She became the winningest coach Hawkeyes women’s basketball history when she passed Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer in 2014.
Before Clark captivated the nation’s attention, Iowa had moments of greatness with Stringer at the helm and with players like Samantha Logic, Megan Gustafson, Michelle Edwards and Toni Foster.
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Here is Iowa’s Final Four history:
How many times has Iowa been to the Final Four?
This is the third time the Iowa Hawkeyes will be in the Final Four. They are returning to the national semifinal where they beat South Carolina, 77-73, last year to advance to the championship game. They then lost the title game to LSU.
The Hawkeyes’ first Final Four appearance was in 1993 when C. Vivian Stringer was the coach. The Hawkeyes lost to Ohio State, 73-72, in overtime in the national semifinal. Stringer was the first coach in college basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four when she did so with Cheyney State in 1982, Iowa in 1993, and Rutgers in 2000 and 2007.
How many national championships has Iowa won?
The Hawkeyes have yet to win a national championship in women’s college basketball, so they have zero titles.
How many national championships has Iowa been to?
Iowa has been to one national championship game. With Caitlin Clark dominating the entire season, they faced LSU in last year’s title game and lost, 102-85.
If the Hawkeyes defeat No. 3 UConn in this year’s Final Four, they will make a second consecutive national championship game appearance.