Friday night’s Final Four game between the UConn Huskies and the Iowa Hawkeyes was billed as an instant classic, and for the most part the game lived up to its billing. Caitlin Clark and Iowa escaped with a 71-69 win, but the talk of the game was a controversial call involving Gabbie Marshall.
Late in the fourth quarter with UConn threatening to steal the game, Marshall was hit by a screen from Aaliyah Edwards while chasing Paige Bueckers. Edwards was called for an illegal screen, prompting outrage across social media from fans, players and media alike.
During an Iowa media availability session the day before the championship game, Gabbie Marshall revealed that she had deleted her social media accounts due to the overwhelming number of hate messages she had received following the game as per Scott Reister of KCCI Sports.
I’ve gotten a lot of hate comments,” Marshall said. “I don’t know. I’m not the one that made the call. So I’m not sure why they’re mad at me personally.”
Gabbie Marshall has been a defensive stopper for Iowa
While Caitlin Clark may be the focus of attention for the Hawkeyes, Marshall has been one of their unsung heroes, especially on the defensive end. Against UConn, Marshall was tasked with covering Paige Bueckers, arguably the best player in the game. Bueckers scored 17 points, but wasn’t as efficient as she normally is.
“It happened, personally I thought it was an illegal screen, it’s not like it was the first one of the game,” Marshall said. “I’ve kind of deleted social media, I feel like it just kind of overlooked the fact that I played my butt off the whole game trying to guard her, trying to get over screens the whole game and feel like that one play just consumed everything. That’s all anyone’s talking about. They’re not talking about the fact that it was a great game between two great teams.”
Caitlin Clark wasn’t her usual efficient self either, being hounded and guarded by UConn’s own defensive stopper, Nika Muhl. She did have 21 points but shot only 7-18 from the field and 3-11 from the three point line.
Iowa was led by Hannah Stuelke’s 23 points. But it’s Marshall that does a lot of little things that don’t always show up in a box score, such as fighting through screens and keeping up with the playing she’s guarding.
Marshall finished with only five points, but also five rebounds and one steal while playing tremendous defense A fifth-year senior, Marshall has become one of the most dependable role players in the country and helped show that Iowa is more than the Caitlin Clark show.
This season, Marshall appeared in 37 games at a little over 29 minutes per game. She averaged 6.1 points per game, 1.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 37.1 percent shooting from the field, 35.2 percent shooting from the three point line and 50 percent shooting from the free throw line.
Iowa advances to the national championship game against South Carolina in what will be a rematch of last season’s Final Four.
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