Gamecocks unbeatable in Final Four? Nope. Heard of Clark?
They're determined, deep and dominant. They're not invincible.
They're unbeaten but beatable, although no one has achieved that.
Dawn Staley's Gamecocks (36-0) are deserving favorites this weekend at the Women's Final Four in Cleveland. That doesn't make them bulletproof, even while South Carolina's next opponent heaps on praise.
"This is the best team they've ever had," NC State coach Wes Moore told reporters of Staley's program, which has won two national titles, "simply because I think they've got so many people that can score."
To Moore's point, USC'S depth remains its most impressive attribute. Well, that, and 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, the team's enforcer in the paint.
USC functions best when Cardoso receives ample touches, but it can win without her scoring 20 points.
Iowa will be hard-pressed to win the national title if Caitlin Clark goes cold. If one Gamecocks star goes cold, three more might get hot.
That's a trump card. USC'S balance proved important in its 70-58 win over Oregon State in the Elite Eight, when six Gamecocks scored at least seven points and Tessa Johnson led the team with 15 points off the bench.
How, then, can an opponent offset all that depth and USC'S tenacious rebounding?
College basketball offers a great equalizer, one that even threatens a juggernaut like South Carolina. That's the 3-point shot.
How to beat South Carolina in the Final Four
The Gamecocks usually defend the perimeter well, but teams can and do get hot.
Indiana pushed USC to the brink in the Sweet 16. How? The Hoosiers caught fire after halftime and finished with 13of-33 shooting from 3-point range.
It would take 3-pointers – several of
them – to upset the Gamecocks.
So, who's the biggest threat to USC'S undefeated quest? The same team that proved the biggest threat last season. The only team to beat Staley's Gamecocks in the past two years.
That's Lisa Bluder's Hawkeyes and her shoot-from-anywhere sniper, Clark.
Why Iowa Hawkeyes are biggest threat to South Carolina
The Hawkeyes used defense to topple the Gamecocks in last year's Final Four. Bluder brilliantly constructed a game plan that dared the Gamecocks to hit jumpers. They couldn't do it.
Staley addressed that weakness in the offseason. Once a liability, drilling jumpers now is a Gamecocks strength.
No one shoots it quite like Iowa, though, which will face Uconn in its semifinal.
The Hawkeyes average 92 points and tally 11 3-pointers per game, pacing the nation in both categories. A defender who dares to put a hand in Clark's face might watch helplessly as she drains a contested 25-footer.
In what became an indelible moment of this tournament, LSU'S Hailey Van Lith feebly lifted her palms and shrugged Monday after Clark drilled a jumper in her face.
Clark's got sidekicks, too. She poured in nine 3-pointers in Iowa's 94-87 win over LSU. Teammates added four more.
NC State, South Carolina's opponent Friday, makes less than 33% of its 3pointers. That doesn't give the Wolfpack
much hope of an upset. On the opposite side of the Final Four, the Gamecocks already shredded Uconn during the regular season.
That leaves Iowa as the serious threat to South Carolina's quest to become the first undefeated champion since Geno Auriemma's 2016 Huskies.
Beating South Carolina would require a stupefying performance from a generational shooter.
No trouble, right?
Actually, plenty of trouble, and a slim chance of success. But, not impossible.
Sounds like an assignment only Clark could handle.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at Btoppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.