Clark, Iowa end South Carolina’s reign
Guard scores 41 as Hawkeyes oust defending champs
DALLAS — Caitlin Clark overwhelmed the reigning champions with another sensational game, scoring 41 points to help Iowa spoil South Carolina’s perfect season with a 77-73 victory on Friday night in the Final Four.
The spectacular junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal and became the first woman to post back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA Tournament. She now has the Hawkeyes in a spot they’ve never been in before — one victory from a national championship.
“We had nothing to lose. I have all the confidence in the world in this group, and they believe right back in me, and that’s all you need,” Clark said. “All we do is believe in one another and we love each other to death, and that’s what a true team is.”
They’ll have to beat another Southeastern Conference team for the top prize as Iowa (31-6) will face LSU in the title game at 3:30 p.m. today. The Tigers beat Virginia Tech in the other semifinal.
Thanks to the spectacular play of Clark and the historic year by South Carolina, this was one of
the most talked-about and highly anticipated matchups in women’s Final Four history,
The game lived up to the hype surrounding it — the best player vs. the best team — much to the delight of the sellout crowd of more than 19,000 fans.
Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina (36-1) had won 42 in a row, including last year’s championship
game.
“It was physical. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” Clark said. “They’re a tremendous team, they’ve had a tremendous year, obviously so well-coached.”
This was Iowa’s first appearance in the Final Four in 30 years. The last time the Hawkeyes advanced this far was 1993, and C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team
that lost to Ohio State in overtime.
Clark has put on quite a show since coming to Iowa. She led the nation in scoring twice and last weekend had a game for the ages, recording the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to lead the Hawkeyes to the Final Four.
Now she has them on the doorstep of more history.
Trailing 59-55 entering the fourth quarter, South Carolina scored the first five points to take the lead. Clark answered right back with two deep 3-pointers and an assist to Monika Czinano to give the Hawkeyes a 67-62 lead.
South Carolina got within 69-68 on Raven Johnson’s 3-pointer before Clark got a steal for a layup with 3:32 left. Neither team scored again until Gamecocks star Aliyah Boston was fouled with 1:37 left. She made the second of two free throws.
Clark then scored another layup on the other end out of a timeout to make it a four-point game. After a layup by Zia Cooke made it a two-point game with 58 seconds left, the Hawkeyes ran the clock down with McKenna Warnock grabbing a huge offensive rebound off a Clark miss with 18 seconds remaining.
Clark hit two free throws after South Carolina fouled her with 13.5 seconds left. They were her 38th and 39th point, moving her past Nneka Ogwumike for the most points scored in a Final Four semifinal.
After a putback by Johnson with 9.9 seconds left got the Gamecocks within 75-73, Clark sealed the game with two more free throws.