Mind of Michael: Foul call was correct

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

I love to discuss controversy within sports, especially in basketball.

One of the topics at the forefront of the sports world is the call made at the end of the UConn vs. Iowa women’s semifinal NCAA Tournament game on Friday, April 5, won by Iowa 71-69.

People are mad at the referee for making the right call. It was not a questionable call. No, it was clearly a moving screen and it was the correct call.

Of course, there are conspiracy theories and things of that sort floating around the internet about the refs being forced to make calls favoring Iowa and superstar Caitlyn Clark. Now I don’t agree with the conspiracy theorists, but I do agree there were some calls during the game that favored Iowa.

My issue is with the people saying that the ref should not have made the moving screen call at the end of the game.

Instead of that, UConn fans are saying the ref should have overlooked the violation to give UConn a chance to win by at least getting a shot up. To that, I say no.

The amount of complaining I see from fans or players when the refs make the wrong call, such as miss a travel or foul in a late-game situation, is contradictory to what I was seeing after this game. Instead, people were complaining because the refs did make the correct call.

Nobody wants to see a great game end over a moving-screen call, but because Aaliyah Edwards set an illegal screen, it got called.

I would much rather have the game end because the refs made the correct call, then a game ending after the refs missed a call, or made the wrong call.

The game was amazing to watch. Both star players struggled but their teammates stepped up. UConn had a great defensive scheme to contain Caitlin Clark, but on the other hand, the Huskies had to play Paige Bueckers and Nika Muhl the whole 40 minutes.

On Iowa’s side, the first half was rough, especially for Clark, who started 0-for-6 from the three-point line. In the second half she slowly found a rhythm, and was able to make clutch shots and plays.

Hannah Stuelke was the star of the night for Iowa, as she was the leading scorer for both teams. Stuelke was able to get Edwards in foul trouble and had her way in the paint.

I do not want to take away from what South Carolina did in the championship game, though. Congratulations are in order as the Gamecocks dominated throughout the whole season on their way to a 38-0 record and a national title. South Carolina defeated Iowa in the title game, 87-75.

South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley has done an amazing job with the program and has successfully reestablished the Gamecocks’ dominance in the women’s college basketball game.