Top seeds are triumphant
Clark steps up late for Iowa, will cap career in title game South Carolina puts NC State away in 3rd to remain unbeaten
CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark eventually found a way.
Completely shut down in the first half, the most exciting player in women’s college basketball now has one game left in her storied career at Iowa. She’ll try to cap it off by bringing the Hawkeyes their first national championship.
Clark scored 21 points and made three momentum-turning 3-pointers in the second half to rally Iowa past Paige Bueckers and UConn 71-69 in the women’s Final Four on Friday night.
ESPN announced Saturday that the game had 14.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record.
Next up for the Hawkeyes (34-4) is a rematch today with unbeaten South Carolina, which also had a perfect record last year before losing to Iowa in the national semifinals. The Hawkeyes then fell to LSU in the title game.
“South Carolina has been the top of the top. They’re in a different league. We’re going to do everything we can to try to be right there with them,” Clark said. “But, yeah, I think the biggest thing is enjoy
CLEVELAND — Perfectly dominant. Nothing new for South Carolina.
With All-America center Kamilla Cardoso scoring 22 points, the Gamecocks emphatically kept their unbeaten season going, advancing to the championship game of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 78-59 victory over North Carolina State on Friday night.
The talented and tenacious Gamecocks (37-0) led by just one at halftime before putting their full arsenal on display in the third quarter. They clamped down on defense, started knocking down 3-pointers and outscored the Wolfpack 29-6 to turn what had been a tense matchup into another one of their blowouts.
“We turned up the heat,” coach Dawn Staley said.
South Carolina will meet Caitlin Clark and Iowa for the national title today in a rematch of a Final Four game last year, when the Hawkeyes ended the Gamecocks’ perfect season.
Clark and her teammates will have their hands full. South Carolina appears to be on a mission.
“I could tell by our faces and voices,” said Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins, who had 20 rebounds. “We wanted it more.”
Cleveland, Ohio
Friday’s semifinals
#1 South Carolina 78, #3 N.C. State 59 #1 Iowa 71, #3 UConn 69
Today’s championship
#1 South Carolina (37-0) vs. #1 Iowa (34-4), 3 p.m. (WVEC/ESPN)
More women’s tournament coverage.
Inside:
Glendale, Arizona
Saturday’s semifinals
#1 Purdue vs. #11 N.C. State, late #1 UConn vs. #4 Alabama, late
Monday’s championship
Saturday’s winners, 9:20 p.m. (TBS/TNT/truTV)
Former Princess Anne High star Aziaha James scored 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting for No. 3 seed N.C. State (31-7), which knocked off a No. 1 and a No. 2 seed to get to Cleveland.
But the Wolfpack had no shot against the Gamecocks, who were a unanimous No. 1 most of the season in the AP Top 25 and are aiming to become the first undefeated national champions since UConn in 2016.
They look all but invincible. “They just punched us in the mouth in the third quarter,” James