Iowa, Caitlin Clark take down undefeated No. 1 South Carolina in women’s Final Four

For a game that was tabbed a matchup between the nation’s top two players, Iowa vs. South Carolina was anything but.

Sure, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark got her 41 in a 77-73 upset of the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, defending national champion South Carolina (36-1).

But the Gamecocks’ Aliyah Boston entered halftime without a single point. She took just one shot and hauled in three rebounds in the first quarter before sitting on the bench for the entire second quarter after being charged with two early fouls. The Naismith defensive player of the year finished with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting but added 10 rebounds.

No. 2 Iowa (31-6) brought an end to South Carolina’s perfect season and 42-game win streak to advance to its first national championship in program history. The Hawkeyes will face No. 3 LSU, also appearing in its first title game after defeating top-seeded Virginia Tech in the night’s first semifinal.

If Friday’s game played out the way the world expected, Boston’s off night would have resulted in an Iowa blowout.

But while South Carolina’s supporting cast kept it close until the game’s final minute, Clark’s dominant performance — highlighted by 16 fourth-quarter points — was too much to overcome.

Leading by two points with under a minute to play, Clark missed a 3-point attempt, but McKenna Warnock secured an offensive rebound that effectively sealed the win.

“I understand South Carolina got 25 o-boards, but there was one o-board that really mattered the most,” Clark said following the game.

Both teams were held below their season scoring averages, which exceeded 80 points per game. Iowa’s offense led the nation with 87.6 points per game. It was assumed if South Carolina could limit Iowa’s offense, the Hawkeyes defense — which ranks 307th in the nation allowing 70.9 points per game — wouldn’t have the same success in holding the Gamecocks.

That was far from the case.

On the game’s biggest stage, Clark had the standout performance her team needed from her, finishing with 41 points for the second consecutive game on 15-of-31 shooting. She shot 5-for-17 from long range and added eight assists and six rebounds.

South Carolina tried almost all of its best defenders — from Boston to Brea Beal to Laeticia Amihere to Raven Johnson — on Clark, the AP and Naismith player of the year. Nobody had an answer.

“I think she’s the most phenomenal basketball player in America,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “I don’t think there’s anybody like her.”

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Fifth-year Iowa center Monika Czinano’s minutes were limited due to foul trouble, but when she was in the game, her impact was felt. She scored 18 points with three rebounds and three steals.

“She was the one that put them over the top with her contributions, because we had everybody else in check,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after the game. “If we could have probably allowed Czinano to have a little less opportunities, it could have flipped the other way.”

But while Clark and Czinano led Iowa’s charge, South Carolina point guard Zia Cooke quietly racked up 18 first-half points.

Besides Cooke, South Carolina’s greatest advantage came on the boards, as it outrebounded Iowa 49 to 25, including 26 to 5 on the offensive end.

Iowa started to get fatigued on the boards in the second. The Hawkeyes don’t have a player on their roster listed above 6-4. South Carolina has three.

Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-7 center, entered the game and led a rebounding effort that nearly doubled Iowa’s in the first half. Cardoso had a double-double with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 14 rebounds (9 offensive).

Amihere was a key part of that effort down low. In addition to taking a turn guarding Clark, she scored all eight of her points in the second and gave South Carolina its first lead at 32-31 following a 7-0 run with 3:09 remaining in the half.

Iowa, in the Final Four for the first time since 1993, broke out to a nine-point lead in the third quarter, its largest of the day, despite leading by just one at halftime.

But when Czinano re-entered the game, she ended the quarter on six straight points to give Iowa a four-point lead before the start of the fourth quarter.

To no one’s surprise, Clark took over in the fourth. She scored 16 of her team’s 18 points in the final 10 minutes to keep the game just out of reach until the end. She shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line, including four in the last minute to put the game away.

Cooke finished as the high scorer for South Carolina with 24 points and eight rebounds. She was held to just six in the second half but played all 40 minutes.

Now South Carolina turns to its future to await a decision from Gamecocks star Boston, who said Friday after the loss that she hasn’t decided whether she will use her final year of COVID-19 eligibility or enter her name in the WNBA Draft, in which she’s the projected No. 1 pick.

“This decision is a big decision,” Boston said. “Whether we won or not, it would still have to be something that I would have to consider.”