The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held press conferences and open practices ahead of a Championship game between No. 1 Iowa and No. 1 South Carolina at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday.
Iowa defeated No. 3 UConn, 71-69, on Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder talked about the “battle-tested” journey to the Championship and what a win would mean.
“For those five seniors, and especially for Caitlin, to be able to go out like that would be just an unbelievable accomplishment. Also, we love our fans. We would love to bring that home to the state of Iowa,” Bluder said.
South Carolina defeated No. 3 NC State, 78-59, on Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley spoke about what it will look like going up against Iowa.
“Iowa’s a challenge. They’re playing their best basketball. They’re playing inspired. They’re playing like they want to win a national championship. So are we. I think it’s a crash course of who’s going to have the better run, who’s going to be able to execute when it’s time to execute,” Staley said.
The Hawkeyes and the Gamecocks face off Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CT. In the last matchup between the teams, Iowa defeated South Carolina in the Final Four, 77-73.
