As The Glue typically does, graduate guard Kate Martin came up with several massive plays down the stretch of the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ Final Four win over UConn.
Martin scored six fourth-quarter points on a pair of fadeaway jumpers and a driving floater. The 6-foot guard’s first fadeaway jumper came with 6:25 remaining to put Iowa up by seven, 64-57, as Martin faded away from UConn guard Paige Bueckers.
Then, in the game’s final three minutes, Martin came up with back-to-back key buckets that gave the Hawkeyes a six-point lead on each offensive trip.
Martin netted another fadeaway jumper over UConn’s Bueckers as she drove to the block, pivoted and faded away, sinking the fallaway jumper to put Iowa in front, 68-62, with 2:57 remaining.
On Iowa’s ensuing possession, Martin took the basketball on a handoff from fifth-year guard Gabbie Marshall. She drove and spun past UConn defender Ashlynn Shade, floating home to put the Hawkeyes in front, 70-64, with 2:14 left to play.
All of this came after Martin’s nose was bloodied by UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards’ elbow on Edwards’ basket that tied the basketball game at 47 apiece with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter. Martin fell to the floor in a heap and spent a brief moment being attended to in Iowa’s locker room.
Of course, Martin returned and authored several of the game’s biggest plays for the Hawkeyes. Martin finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals against the Huskies.
Afterward, Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder tipped her cap to her captain’s toughness and magical playmaking.
“Kate Martin, what a warrior. That kid, she was not going to be denied in that fourth quarter. Some of those takes she had to the basket, turnarounds, strong jumpers.
“I don’t know what happened to her nose. But, we obviously all saw a lot of blood. That poor kid has broken her nose I think every single year she’s been at Iowa. But, she’s a warrior, she’s a leader, she’s the heart and soul of our team,” Bluder said.
Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark likewise applauded Martin’s resiliency and how the Edwardsville, Ill, native encapsulates what it means to be a Hawkeye.
“Well, poor Kate has gone quite a while without breaking her nose and having blood gush out of it. And then, in one of her last career games, she’s on the floor and she has hurt her nose again. I don’t know if it’s broken or not, but I think Kate’s just toughness, resiliency and leadership is the biggest thing. You see it, Kate’s a pro player. You see her game, she’s hitting fadeaway jump shots, she’s going at people.
“The way she took over at the end of the fourth, she came up with, I think, six straight points for us. I’m just so proud of her. She’s worked so hard over the course of this offseason. She knew she was going to be a focal point for us on offense, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s had a long career. All she’s ever dreamed of is being an Iowa Hawkeye, and she embodies that every single day,” Clark said.
With one more performance like what Martin authored against UConn, Iowa just might be cutting down the nets in Cleveland as the national champion.
Iowa will battle South Carolina for the national championship at 2 p.m. CT on ABC from inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
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