CLEVELAND — Gabbie Marshall was determined not to have Friday’s Final Four game against UConn be her last suiting up for Iowa.
While her stats don’t immediately stick out — scoring five points on 2-of-7 attempts — the fifth-year guard’s defensive presence was key in Iowa’s 71-69 win over the Huskies to advance to the national championship for the second straight season.
Marshall helped seal the game for Iowa by drawing the moving screen foul on UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards as the Huskies had the ball down one with 10 seconds remaining.
“Gabbie’s great in those situations,” forward Hannah Stuelke said. “She always comes up with big plays, whether it’s a block or whatever.”
Marshall also held former Naismith Player of the Year Paige Bueckers to a tournament low of 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting and was tied with fellow guards Caitlin Clark and Sydney Affolter for most steals for Iowa during the game with two. Bueckers scored three points in the final 15:27 of last night’s semifinal.
“Paige had a great game, [but] I thought Gabbie just played great defense on her even when Paige made some tough baskets. Gabbie just responded and kept going up there and guarding her, so I’m really proud of her,” Clark said during the post-game press conference.
Before the game, Marshall admitted that Bueckers would probably be one of the most demanding players she would ever have to guard in her carer.
“I think the biggest thing for me is to make things tougher for her and try and be glued to her hip the whole night,” Marshall said during a Thursday media availability.
Marshall, indeed, was attached to Bueckers the whole night, making sure the UConn guard rarely got any wide-open looks while not allowing her to make it to the free-throw line once during the contest.
“Gabbie does that every single game. I mean, she’s always guarding the team’s best player, and she’s got to chase people around, which is not easy at all,” guard Kate Martin said. “She’s going to do anything to help this team win, and she showed up big tonight.”
Marshall said matching up against Clark every day in practice for the past four years helped her prepare to face such a talented player as Bueckers. Still, as associate head coach Jan Jensen pointed out, the two former national players of the year’s playing styles are distinct.
“I think Gabbie only got scored on once in the post [by Bueckers], and that was the worry because Paige is so good [in the post],” Jansen said. “That’s the one thing that’s a lot different. Caitlin doesn’t post up, while Paige will go down there.”
Now heading into her last game playing for Iowa, Marshall said she hopes to finish her playing career in her home state of Ohio, where it all started.
“I don’t think I could have scripted my five years here at Iowa any better,” Marshall said. “Ending it with being a national champion would just be the icing on the cake in my home state surrounded by my friends and family,