Lisa Bluder previews Final Four matchup vs. UConn, challenge of stopping Paige Bueckers

The Iowa Hawkeyes and their sharpshooter Caitlin Clark have taken college basketball by storm the past few years. On Friday night, they’re on a collision course with one of the sports most dominant teams in the UConn Huskies. The two top teams will collide on Friday night’s Final Four showdown. Ahead of the game, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder spoke with Holly Rowe of ESPN.

The Iowa Hawkeyes were in the same position last year, advancing all the way to the Final Four. What’s different on Friday night that Bluder is asking of them?

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“I think it gives us comfort in being here last year. It’s kind of like you know what to expect, you know a little bit about the events that are surrounding it, the hype surrounding it. So I think that’s to our favor. What I expect of my team tonight is we have to play … every single possession. And I’ve got to get a lot of people involved in this offense tonight,” Bluder explained.

The Hawkeyes defense has the unenviable task of trying to stop one of the more dominant women’s players in the game today, Paige Bueckers. What’s their gameplan against one of the game’s biggest superstars?

“Once again, people ask me how to slow down Caitlin Clark, I can never give them a good answer and it’s the same way with Paige. She’s so good, and what impresses me so much is her pull-up game. I think her pull-up jumper is just beautiful. And she’s got great height, as well. She’s a really hard person to guard,” Bluder said.

Bueckers has been dominant in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, stuffing the stat sheet with 28 points and 10 rebounds in the Huskies Elite Eight victory over the USC Trojans. She also scored 24 points in their Sweet Sixteen matchup vs. Duke. Bueckers has become one of the most decorated players in women’s basketball history during her time with the Huskies.

She earned unanimous first team All-American honors in 2024 and 2021. Bueckers missed the entire 2022-2023 season with a torn ACL, but she’s rebounded from that to regain her previous form.

Iowa is the No. 1 seed with a 33-4 overall record coming into the matchup and UConn is the No. 3 seed with a 33-5 overall record. Friday night’s game is being televised on ESPN.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.