South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75 to win its third NCAA women’s championship.
South Carolina Gamecocks won the national women’s Basketball championship on Sunday, defeating Iowa Hawkeyes and star Caitlin Clark 87-75.
The victory earns coach Dawn Staley and her team their third NCAA championship, finishing off a perfect season for the Gamecocks.
Clark helped the Hawkeyes get off to a good shooting start. The Iowa guard hit a last-second 3-pointer to score 18 points in the first quarter, the highest in NCAA tournament history. In the end, even with the league’s best player, Iowa couldn’t match South Carolina’s togetherness.
Four players scored in double figures, headed by freshman Tessa Johnson, who had 19 points. Senior Kamilla Cardoso, who won MVP honors, overcame a recent knee injury to score 15 points and 17 rebounds. Bree Hall and Raven Johnson’s defensive work, which included a steal from Clark that extended the Gamecocks’ advantage at halftime, stemmed Clark’s momentum.
It was Staley’s atonement after losing to Iowa in the semifinals last year. Staley, who had to construct a young club after losing five starters last year, was upset after the game.
“It doesn’t always end the way you want it to, as it did last year, but my freshmen are at the top of my heart because they wanted this,” Staley said in a post-game interview with ESPN.
Freshman Johnson attributed the team’s victory to the climate Staley helped create: “We’re unselfish people, and that’s how we win it,” she remarked after the game.
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