<
        >

          The road to the NCAA women's title game as told by social media

          play
          Iowa outlasts UConn, advances to NCAA women's final (1:49)

          Caitlin Clark and Iowa hang on to beat UConn and advance to face South Carolina in the NCAA women's final. (1:49)

          • Kalan Hooks, ESPNApr 6, 2024, 11:28 PM

          After a long month of March, the stage is set for the women's NCAA basketball championship in Cleveland.

          In the semifinals, the No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the No. 3 seed NC State Wolfpack in double-digit fashion, while Caitlin Clark and the No. 1 seed Iowa Hawkeyes beat the No. 3 seed UConn Huskies after a controversial foul against Aaliyah Edwards to return to the national championship for a second consecutive season. The Hawkeyes will now have a shot at redemption after losing last season's title game to the LSU Tigers.

          South Carolina became the 11th team in women's NCAA tournament history to reach the championship without losing a single game, and Clark inked her name in the history books as the first Division I leading scorer to play in the national championship, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

          Here are some of the women's NCAA tournament highlights that led to the title game, as told by social media.

          Brent Clark

          Clark is one of the best shooters ever to pick up a basketball. Her father, Brent, has kept her locked in as her coach since birth. In Iowa's first-round matchup against No. 16 Holy Cross, Clark had a few words for officials after not getting a foul call. However, her father did some coaching from the stands that instantly went viral on social media.

          Brent returned for the Final Four with a pocket full of snacks that would keep him -- and social media -- entertained.

          Happy birthday, Geno!

          After the Huskies defeated the No. 16 seed Jackson State Lady Tigers in the first round, the additional motivation behind their win was very evident. Their first-round matchup took place on coach Geno Auriemma's 70th birthday.

          After the win, the team greeted Auriemma in the locker room with a table full of cupcakes and T-shirts, each with a photo of a moment in his coaching career or a look-alike such as Disney's "Up!" protagonist Carl Fredricksen, who was on Nika Muhl's shirt.

          Travis Scott is women's basketball's hype man

          Scott has been showing how much of a fan he is of women's college hoops all season long. After making an appearance at Iowa's senior night against Ohio State, Scott has continued to demonstrate his commitment to the sport.

          On April 1, the Elite Eight doubleheader between Iowa-LSU and UConn-USC captivated the sports world with its historic matchups. Scott, hyped about the games, posted his excitement on social media.

          Flau'jae Johnson promotes her new album

          Johnson is more than just a hooper -- she has bars, too. After the Tigers defeated Middle Tennessee State in the second round, the guard was pumped from her 21-point performance.

          Two days before the second round, Johnson had released a single with rapper NLE Choppa for their song "AMF" (Ain't My Fault). At the end of the postgame news conference, Johnson plugged her new single, and fellow Tigers star Angel Reese supported her wholeheartedly.

          Paige Bueckers is a class act

          After missing the 2022-23 season with an ACL injury, Bueckers led UConn to the Final Four. Following their defeat of JuJu Watkins and the No. 1 seed USC Trojans in the Elite Eight, Bueckers was encouraged to re-create the iconic photo of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals.

          Bueckers refused to take the photo out of respect for Bryant stating, "It ain't me, dog. That's Kobe."