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On Friday, Golden State Valkyries guard Kate Martin provided insight on her Iowa Hawkeyes' historic 2023 NCAA Final run. In a conversation with WNBA legend Sue Bird, Martin revealed that the Hawkeyes didn't believe they could beat the USC Gamecocks. Led by Dawn Satley and Aliyah Boston, the Gamecocks were reigning champions but lost to Iowa in the Final Four.
On the Birds Eye View podcast with Sue Bird, the former Aces player was asked about her team's historic run to the NCAA Finals in 2023. The Seattle Storm legend asked Martin to highlight her favorite moment from it
"Real quick, if you had to pick a favorite highlight, like getting to the Final Four, or is it beating South Carolina ... what would have been that moment?," Bird asked.
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Martin highlighted the win against Dawn Staley's team. Explaining how they didn't think they could beat them, she said:
"I'd say being able to beat South Carolina was incredible because we all believed we could make it to a final four. ... we didn’t think we were gonna really make it to the national championship. The undefeated South Carolina their like twin towers down there."
Kate Martin and Co. faced a formidable USC Gamecocks team in 2023, led by the pair of Aliyah Boston and Kamila Cardoso.
The Gamecocks were on a 42-game winning streak and were the No.1 seed in the country. However, an inspired 41-point performance from Caitlin Clark earned the Hawkeyes a 77-73 win, earning them a NCAA Final appearance against Angel Reese's LSU.
Despite beating a strong opponent, the Hawkeyes were unable to go all the way. losing to the LSU Tigers in the NCAA Final.
"She came in and ruled the world": Kate Martin on her first meeting with Caitlin Clark
In the aforementioned podcast, Kate Martin also talked about her time in Iowa and her initial reaction to meeting Caitlin Clark.
Martin explained how she didn't think highly of Clark at the start as she shared her thoughts on the Fever star.
"I wasn't from Iowa, so I didn't know as much. ... I had heard about this Caitlin Clark and I was watching videos of her just having 40 points and averaging like a million in high school. I was like this girl thinks she’s gonna come in here and rule the world. ... Then she came in and ruled the world," Martin said.
Martin and Clark enjoyed a successful stint with the Iowa Hawkeyes, leading them to two NCAA Finals appearances.
