With the women’s Final Four on Friday night, everyone has now shifted to the mega matchup between Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes going against Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies.
As expected, Molly Qerim and the First Take crew had something to say about the matchup.
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Qerim is usually not one to add her strong two cents on topics, but on Thursday, she had something to reveal about Clark and all of the hoopla surrounding her.
ESPN’s Molly Qerim decided to state that we would not be talking about Caitlin Clark as much as we are if Paige Bueckers did not miss so much time with injuries over two seasons.
“If Paige Bueckers didn’t basically miss two seasons, I don’t know if we’d be talking about Caitlin Clark the way we are now,” Qerim said.
This conversation came about after Stephen A. Smith compared Clark to Stephen Curry while debating whether she should be considered the “GOAT” if Iowa wins the national title.
Qerim made it known that Clark and the Hawkeyes will be facing a diminished Huskies team in Cleveland on Friday.
“All I gotta say is she’s lucky this UConn team isn’t healthy, and that’s a true statement,” Qerim said.
Smith was not in agreement:
“That’s wrong, Molly,” Smith told Qerim.
“That’s excuses. You would not be saying that if it wasn’t UConn.”
“A hit dog will holler,” Qerim replied.
Clark’s freshman year at Iowa ended with a Sweet 16 loss to UConn, so now she has a chance to enact some revenge for the second straight game as she already got it in the Elite 8 when she scored 41 points to take down the LSU Tigers.
Caitlin Clark’s Presence In The Final Four Means More Huge Ratings
Caitlin Clark (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Last year’s NCAA women’s basketball championship set an all-time ratings record for a women’s game on ESPN as it pitted Angel Reese against Caitlin Clark.
The rematch of the game on Monday averaged 12.3 million viewers for ESPN, the largest TV audience ever for a women’s basketball game in the United States, via the Hollywood Reporter.
Clark moving on to the Final Four is good for everybody.