South Carolina completed their undefeated season took down Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The final score of the game was 87-75.
As we previously shared, South Carolina lost in the Final Four to Iowa last season. Clark and the Hawkeyes then ran into a talented LSU team in the national championship and lost as well. South Carolina, which lost four starters to the WNBA, regrouped and relied on talented freshmen to get the job done. This win makes it the third women’s basketball national championship for South Carolina, with the leadership of coach Dawn Staley.
Staley met with ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the postgame handshake and shared an emotional speech. “We serve an unbelievable God,” Staley said as she praised her coaching staff and her resilient team for coming back strong to finish the season undefeated and as champions. “This is the unlikeliest group to do it. And sometimes, I mean, God is funny like that. He’s funny. He rips your heart out, and He makes you believe. He makes you believe the unimaginable.”
During her victory speech, Staley also thanks Caitlin Clark for lifting the game of women’s college basketball. “I wanna personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport, she carried a heavy load, when she’s the number 1 pick in the WNBA draft she’s gonna lift that league up as well. So Caitlin if you’re out there you are one of the GOATS”
Clark shot 10-of-28 from the field and had eight rebounds and five assists to go with her 30 points in the loss for Iowa. She’ll turn her attention to the WNBA Draft later this month, where the Indiana Fever almost certainly going to take her with the No. 1 overall pick. While in Iowa City, Clark became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer on both the men’s and women’s side, won two straight National Player of the Year honors, led the Hawkeyes to three straight Big Ten tournament titles and got them to back-to-back national championship games, among multiple other accolades. The past two tournament games featuring the Hawkeyes broke national viewership records. Their win over UConn in the Final Four drew 14.2 million viewers, which made the most-watched women’s college basketball game.
The championship is the latest evidence of the dynasty that Staley has built in Columbia. Since she took over in 2008, the Gamecocks have been to six Final Fours — including four straight — and have three national titles. While Clark dominated the sport all season long and helped transform women’s basketball in a way few have, the Gamecocks have once again come out on top.