2024 women's Final Four - It was supposed to be Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers - ESPN

CLEVELAND — Hannah Stuelke stood tall inside against one of the best post players in the country.

Kate Martin took a shot to the nose, left the court to stop the bleeding, shoved tissues inside her nostrils and then came back to score one crucial basket after the next down the stretch.

Gabbie Marshall drew a game-deciding offensive foul after locking down Paige Bueckers all night.

Over and over again, a game billed as Caitlin Clark versus Paige Bueckers turned into something much different. Clark was not the leading scorer for Iowa; Bueckers was ineffective down the stretch. Neither one made the biggest play with the game on the line.

Rather, virtually everyone on the Iowa roster stepped up when the time came — from defensive tenacity, to offensive boards, paint points and maybe the most crucial play of all — Marshall drawing the foul call with 3.9 seconds left. The end result? An epic 71-69 comeback victory over UConn 71-69 Friday night to get to the national championship game against South Carolina.

«That's how it's been every single game the entire season,» Martin said. «We don't win any of our games without every single person on this team. The media plays it up for what it has to be, for viewership and everything, but we don't win that game without every single person on our bench, every single person in the game. I thought everybody did a great job of stepping up when they needed to.

»Caitlin and Paige are both great players and they deserve their flowers. They deserve their recognition, but everybody on UConn deserves the recognition and everyone on Iowa does too."

It became clear early on that the points would not come so easily for Clark, who struggled with her trademark shot. Rather than panic, her teammates