ENSTARZ EXCLUSIVE: Iowa Hawkeyes Head Coach Lisa Bluder On Losing Two Championships In A Row
On Sunday, the 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four concluded in Cleveland, Ohio, where the South Carolina Gamecocks won the big game.
Dawn Staley and company defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, 87-75. They also won the NCAA Championship in 2017 and 2022.
The Hawkeyes started the afternoon contest strong with a shooting spree buoyed by basketball superstar Caitlyn Clark. The Iowa guard scored 18 points in the first quarter — the most ever scored in a single quarter of a tournament game in NCAA history.
Iowa, who lost to the Louisana State University Tigers last year, returned to the Final Four this year, but fell short for a second year in a row.
During a press conference after the game, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder was asked how she feels about losing back-to-back championships.
"It kinda makes me a double loser right now, quite honestly. It's tough, but I know how hard it is to get here, too. I say that tongue in cheek because I know it's really, really difficult to get to a Final Four," she said. "For us to be national runner-ups two years in a row — I'm never going to apologize."
"So many people last year kept [saying], 'Oh, you'll do it next time,' it was like, terrible, that we didn't win a national championship," Bluder, 62, said. "So many people said that to me, and I'm like, 'Darn you guys, we were national runner-ups, that's pretty good, too!' "
The former coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs mentioned how she would never "apologize for finishing second in the country. But it would be nice to win one."
Instead, the Gamecocks remained unbeaten throughout the season, becoming a dominant team in the women's game. South Carolina are now 109-3 over the last three seasons, thanks in part to their head coach, Dawn Staley.
Despite their massive win, Staley, who won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head coach of another U.S. gold-medal winning team, praised Iowa's Caitlyn Clark's historic run during a speech.
"I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport," Staley, 53, said. "She carried a heavy load. You are one of the GOATs of our game and we appreciate you."
It was the 22-year-old's last chance at a championship during her college career.
According to NPR, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer plans to enter the WNBA draft next year.
