CLEVELAND — Another exciting rematch? Yes, please. What has already been an incredibly entertaining season continues to deliver as Sunday’s NCAA championship game will be between the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks and the Iowa Hawkeyes, the team with Caitlin Clark, the sport’s all-time leading scorer.
Not only are these the two hottest teams in the nation, it will also be a rematch of last year’s Final Four, when Iowa handed Dawn Staley’s group a 77-73 loss in Dallas. Just like this weekend, the Gamecocks were chasing a perfect season, but that dream was spoiled by Clark’s mind-blowing performance of 41 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. She’s been a great player since her freshman season, but last year lifted her to stardom, and that weekend turned her into a transcendent star.
Looking at last year’s game won’t give much insight on how Sunday’s game might go because, although the Hawkeyes still have Clark as their top weapon, South Carolina lost all of its starters to the WNBA Draft. That was what head coach Dawn Staley described as “one of the most historic classes in the history of the program,” and although they won the 2022 national title, Iowa spoiled their opportunity to repeat.
Clark and Iowa coach Lisa Bluder ran into Staley during the Naismith Awards earlier this week and reminded everyone that all there is between them is respect, no hard feelings.
Iowa didn’t lift the 2023 trophy either, as the Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers were too much for Bluder’s squad to handle. The Hawkeyes, of course, got their payback in the Elite Eight last Monday night — before a women’s college basketball record audience of 12.3 million viewers — and they kept the momentum going by surviving a short-handed, yet dangerous UConn team on Friday night.
Last year was the first time Iowa reached the title game, and just the second time ever advancing to the Final Four. Making it to back-to-back championship games is already a stellar accomplishment in its own right, but there is extra pressure on the team right now because Clark already announced her plans to declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft. Winning a championship in the final collegiate game of her career would certainly be the Hollywood hoops ending that the Iowa faithful are hoping to see.
That being said, whether she wins a ring or not, Staley already made up her mind about Clark.
“I think she’s going to go down in the history books as probably, arguably the best player to grace our collegiate sports,” the coach said earlier this season.
But Iowa is also so much more than just Clark. To get past UConn, the Hawkeyes needed sophomore Hannah Stuelke’s 23 points to help them find their spark in the second half. This season, Stuelke is averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 rebounds, while Kate Martin is putting up 13 points and 6.8 boards per contest. Sydney Affolter is yet another player who is peaking at the right time to help Iowa in this deep run. When Molly Davis suffered a knee injury, it was Affolter who stepped into a bigger role while on the game’s biggest stage.
As a whole, Iowa plays a fast pace that is difficult for opponents to match. Staley said that was part of what makes them a challenging opponent.
“What makes then tough to guard is they get up and down the floor,” Staley said. “… They got pretty good condition … They always seem to make the right play on either side of the basketball. They don’t give up, they play for 40 minutes. They have incredible endurance, but they don’t make very many mistakes.”
The admiration wasn’t just one-sided because Clark also expressed high praise for Staley’s team.
“South Carolina has been the top of the top,” Clark said. “They’re in a different league. We’re going to do everything we can to try to be right there with them.”
The Iowa guard statements are not just her trying to say something nice about her opponent, they are inarguably true. The Gamecocks are the only undefeated team in the nation in a season in which they were supposed to be rebuilding. South Carolina suffocates opponents, allowing just 56.1 points per game, while the offense has seven players who are averaging over eight points per contest. The Gamecocks were doubted early in the seasons, but it didn’t take them long to show everyone who they are by stacking dominant wins in a campaign that has included six 100+ point performances and plenty of other head-turning stats.
On paper, there is no reason why South Carolina shouldn’t join the elite list of undefeated champions — this squad seems built for this moment. However, Clark and the Hawkeyes already stunned Staley’s team once so no matter how dominant the Gamecocks have been all season, this will be anyone’s game.
