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Gabbie Marshall’s hustle in the final seconds of Iowa’s Final Four win over UConn was a big reason why they returned to the national championship game.
But the controversial call that came from trying to fight over an Aaliyah Edwards screen, on a Huskies’ possession that could’ve led to a game-winning bucket, has led to Marshall deleting her social media after tons of “hate comments.”
Before Marshall and her Hawkeyes take on the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks in the national title game on Sunday, she explained why she needed to take a break from social media.
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Gabbie Marshall of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after beating the UConn Huskies in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 5, 2024, in Cleveland. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“I don’t know. I’m not the one that made the call,” Marshall said, referencing the moving screen call referees made on Edwards, which gave Iowa the ball back at a crucial point in the semifinal matchup. “So, I’m not sure why they’re mad at me personally.”
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder also came to the defense of her guard.
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“It’s unbelievable to me that you’re going to criticize a 22-year-old kid for something that she had no control over,” Bluder said. “I thought we handled that really well. We switched out onto it. I thought we were there to contest. I can’t believe people would be so immature as to attack a 22-year-old on doing their job and doing really, really well.”
The call on Edwards has been analyzed thoroughly since it happened Friday night, where a social media debate sparked between those who thought it was the right call and those who couldn’t believe it.
Gabbie Marshall of the Iowa Hawkeyes shoots the ball against the UConn Huskies in the second half during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 5, 2024, in Cleveland. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
NBA superstar LeBron James, WNBA All-Star Kelsey Plum, and even LSU’s Angel Reese, who lost to the Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight, were among those who didn’t think the moving screen should’ve been called.
There is also the notion that an official shouldn’t make a call like that in such a critical moment of the game. But Marshall thinks if a foul occurs, it deserves the whistle.
“When the right call’s the right call, it’s not fair to say you can’t make that call with 10 seconds left when you can make it with 10 minutes or two minutes left,” Marshall said. “If it’s the right call, it’s the right call. It’s out of my control to make the calls, but personally I thought it was an illegal screen and it’s not like it was the first one of the game.”
Gabbie Marshall of the Iowa Hawkeyes speaks to the media during the postgame press conference on March 8, 2024, in Minneapolis. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
With social media not creating a distraction, Marshall is hoping she can be named a national champion when Sunday’s final buzzer sounds. She scored five points with five rebounds and one assist in 39 minutes of play in the Final Four.
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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
