Caitlin Clark led the lowa Hawkeyes to a Final Four win over Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies in April. The victory was marred by a controversial offensive foul called on Aaliyah Edwards against Gabbie Marshall, who chased Bueckers off a screen. Clark and Co. reached the finals game but lost the championship to South Carolina 87-75.

Jalen Rose’s daughter, Mariah, went on X (formerly Twitter) to explain why “everyone loves Paige Bueckers.” She said that Bueckers was “Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark, adding: “Last year, Paige Bueckers was officially back and she led Conn to the Final Four again where they lost to Iowa, but I don’t think that this was their fault. The refs were… they wanted Caitlin Clark to get that championship.”

Why everyone LOVES Paige Bueckers 👀 pic.twitter.com/nVhn4WJaLb

— mariah rose (@mariahcrose) November 26, 2024

The viral and controversial play happened in the deciding seconds of the fourth quarter with lowa leading 70-69. UConn had possession with 9.8 seconds remaining. Nika Muhl brought the ball, whipped a pass to Bueckers who handed it back to the streaking Muhl.

The Huskies had two options in that play as they did not need a 3-pointer to win. Muhl, a step ahead of Clark for a layup, stopped on her track to look for the UConn sharpshooter, who was hounded by Gabbie Marshall. To free Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards leaned slightly on Marshall to impede her movement.

The referee on top of the play promptly whistled Edwards for an offensive foul. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma bent over on the sidelines in anger and frustration. Marshall, Clark and the Hawkeyes celebrated their opponents’ infraction. Following an lowa timeout, Paige Bueckers fouled Clark who made 1 of 2 free throws to drag the Hawkeyes to victory.

LeBron James, Angel Reese, Kelsey Plum and other celebrities called out the referee’s decision. Mariah Rose tossed in her thoughts a few months later to claim the game was rigged for Clark to win.

Paige Bueckers gamely accepted UConn’s loss to Caitlin Clark’s lowa.

Paige Bueckers gamely accepted UConn’s loss to Caitlin Clark’s team despite the controversial call. She had this to say after the game (via CNN): “Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game. You can look at one play and say, ‘Oh, that killed us or that hurt us.’ But we should have done a better job.”

Bueckers’ comments after the game earned her even more rave reviews and fans. She did not make claims like Mariah Rose or questioned the call as others did.