CLEVELAND — The rematch is here.
Just over a year after 41 points from Caitlin Clark fueled Iowa’s upset of an unbeaten South Carolina squad in the Final Four in Dallas, the two teams are meeting again.
This time, it’s in the national championship game.
No. 1 South Carolina, again undefeated, will face No. 1 Iowa and Clark on Sunday afternoon to put a bow on a tremendous season for women’s college basketball that saw the sport experience unprecedented growth in viewership and attendance.
Last year’s national title clash between Iowa and LSU drew an average of 9.9 million viewers, per ESPN. That mark was surpassed by Friday night’s Final Four matchup between third-seeded UConn and the Hawkeyes, as 14.2 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game on any ESPN platform.
Iowa beat the Huskies 71-69.
A prime slot on ABC at 3 p.m. ET could help Sunday’s game between South Carolina (37-0) and Iowa (34-4) garner even more eyeballs.
“It’s a monumental game for our game. We’re very fortunate to be a part of it,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “I hope it’s the most-watched game. … I hope that everybody gets exactly what they want out of it.”
What South Carolina wants, obviously, is to complete an undefeated season and bring a third national championship back to Columbia, S.C.
In the semifinals, third-seeded North Carolina State kept up with the mighty Gamecocks for one half — trailing by just a point at intermission — but South Carolina then pulled away by outscoring the Wolfpack 29-6 in the third quarter en route to a 78-59 blowout.
Key for the Gamecocks against North Carolina State was their dominance inside. Kamilla Cardoso led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Ashlyn Watkins grabbed a career-high 20 boards.
When opponents have to focus on stopping South Carolina in the paint, it frees up shooters like Raven Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao, who combined to go 5-for-10 from 3-point land against the Wolfpack.
Paopao didn’t play against Iowa in last year’s national semifinals. She transferred to South Carolina from Oregon last offseason with the goal of playing for a championship. Now, Paopao, who is shooting a team-best 46.2 percent from deep (among players with at least three attempts), is.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Everything is sunk in already. … I know we’re not done yet,” Paopao said. “We’ve got one job to do. We’ve got to take care of business (Sunday).”
The other team has a pretty good 3-point shooter, too, in Clark, the all-time leading scorer in the history of Division I college basketball (men’s and women’s). But in the win over UConn, Clark struggled a bit, finishing with a season-low-tying 21 points.
Clark is prepared to face another strong defense in South Carolina, which ranks first nationally in shooting defense, allowing opponents to make just 32.2 percent of their field-goal attempts.
“I didn’t shoot the ball great. I made some shots there at the end. I thought (UConn’s Nika Muhl) played tremendous defense, picked me up 94 feet,” Clark said of Friday’s game. “That’s something that South Carolina is going to do too.”
While Clark’s shot didn’t always fall against the Huskies, she did have seven assists, and her teammates stepped up. Hannah Stuelke had 23 points and Kate Martin had 11 to go with eight rebounds.
“Hannah, let’s keep riding that high. She knows she can do it now. Every challenge gets bigger,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Look at the challenges she’s had already in this tournament. Hannah has grown up throughout this tournament, and she’s going to have an unbelievable challenge (Sunday).”
Stuelke played just 12 minutes in last year’s game against South Carolina, a 77-73 win for the Hawkeyes.
–Mitchell Northam, Field Level Media