CLEVELAND — The goal of redemption led to perfection for South Carolina’s women’s basketball team.
Confetti fell on the Gamecocks after freshman Tessa Johnson scored a career-high 19 points to power South Carolina to an 87-75 victory over fellow No. 1 seed Iowa in the national championship game on Sunday in a sold-out Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
It is a triumph that avenges the loss the Gamecocks suffered to the Hawkeyes in last season’s national semifinals. That game was the last time South Carolina endured a defeat, having capped off this season 38-0. It makes the Gamecocks the first undefeated champions in women’s college basketball since UConn’s 2015-16 team.
South Carolina is the 10th team to complete an unbeaten season and the fifth program to do so, joining the Huskies, Baylor, Tennessee and Texas.
It is the third national title for South Carolina under coach Dawn Staley.
“I’m super excited to share this moment with our team. They are incredible human beings and young people who trusted, believed and figured out a way to help each other, learn and grow, and ultimately become champions,” Staley said. “It was emotional for me because of how it ended last year.”
Johnson — who did not start — shot 7-of-11 from the floor and also had four rebounds in 25 minutes. South Carolina also got two double-doubles from frontcourt players: Kamilla Cardoso’s 15 points and a career-best 17 rebounds, and Chloe Kitts’ 11 points and 10 rebounds. Te-Hina Paopao provided 14 points for the Gamecocks.
“Tessa was due for a breakout game. What (is) better than on a national stage? She’s trusted her process here,” Paopao said. “She’s trusted her journey. And for her to do that on such a big stage, I’m so proud of her. Her confidence has grown so much.”
Cardoso — who also had three blocks and two assists — was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Iowa (34-5) is still a program without a title after falling in the championship bout for the second consecutive season. The result marks the end of the career of superstar guard Caitlin Clark — the all-time leading scorer for all of Division I college basketball — who finished her final game in a Hawkeyes uniform with 30 points on 10-of-28 shooting along with eight rebounds and five assists.
“It’s really hard to win these things,” Clark said. “I think I probably know that better than most people by now. To be so close twice, it definitely hurts, but at the same time, we were right there. We battled.”
Kate Martin added 16 points for Iowa, Sydney Affolter scored 12, while Hannah Stuelke chipped in 11.
Iowa began the game with their foot firmly on the gas. Clark scored 18 points in the opening frame to help the Hawkeyes build an early 11-point lead. It was just the fourth time all season the Gamecocks trailed after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, though, South Carolina’s top-ranked defense was activated. The Gamecocks held Clark to just three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second frame as they went on a 16-7 run to take a two-point advantage. The Gamecocks ended the first half on a second-chance 3-pointer from Paopao and a fastbreak layup from Raven Johnson to lead by three points at the break.
“I was ready for the moment. And I take defense very hard, like I take it to heart. I studied her moves, and I was ready,” Raven Johnson said of her defense on Clark. “I had confidence this year. I was telling myself last year’s not going to happen again.”
South Carolina then used an 11-2 run midway through the third quarter to take an 11-point lead of its own. Tessa Johnson swished a pair of shots from behind the arc during that span and assisted Bree Hall on another 3-pointer.
From there, Iowa never regained the lead. An offensive rebound and second-chance layup by Kitts pushed South Carolina’s lead to 14 points, its largest of the game, with 7:40 to play.
South Carolina won the rebounding battle 51-29 and outscored Iowa 30-16 on second chances. And the Gamecocks got 37 points from their bench, while the Hawkeyes received zero scoring production from players that didn’t start. Simply put, South Carolina was bigger and deeper than Iowa.
“Hard to win a basketball game like that. You’ve basically got to shoot perfect at that point,” Clark said. “I’m just proud of our group. We never backed down, and we gave it everything we’ve got.”
Clark has already declared for the April 15 WNBA Draft, where she’s widely expected to be selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever. South Carolina’s Cardoso has also declared and could join her as a first-round pick.
With her incredibly entertaining style of play, Clark helped spearhead tremendous growth in attendance, viewership and fandom in women’s college basketball. Twice during March Madness, games she played in broke records for TV ratings. Her impact on the game will be felt for a long time. But while 3-pointers from the logo and neck-breaking assists came easy to her, the one thing she couldn’t do was lead Iowa to an upset of one of Staley’s best teams ever.
–Mitchell Northam, Field Level Media
