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Perfection: No. 1 South Carolina beats Iowa to win 2024 NCAA national championship

chapel fowler
·7 min read

It’s championship time for Dawn Staley’s No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks.

The No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament is facing fellow No. 1 seed Iowa and star guard Caitlin Clark on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland in the NCAA national title game.

The State’s Payton Titus and Chapel Fowler are on site in Cleveland to provide updates from the game. Follow along as South Carolina tries to complete the NCAA’s first perfect season since 2015-16 UConn and win its third national championship in the past seven years (2017, 2022).

Final: South Carolina 87, Iowa 75

It’s over. South Carolina is your 2024 national champion.

The No. 1 Gamecocks and coach Dawn Staley beat No. 1 Iowa and star guard Caitlin Clark to record the ninth all time perfect season in NCAA history and win their third NCAA title (2017, 2022).

Can Gamecocks close it out?

South Carolina leads Iowa 78-72 with 4:39 remaining in the game. The Gamecocks were up 11, 72-61, but Iowa had a 8-0 run to make things close again. USC, meanwhile, is on a 3:01 field goal drought and has missed its last four shots. Caitlin Clark is up to 30 points today; Tessa Johnson has 19 for USC.

End Q3: South Carolina 68, Iowa 59

Wow. Another big quarter for the Gamecocks, who shot 62% in that period, and they lead Iowa by nine points after three. USC led by as many as 11 points in the quarter and is shooting 50% from the field and on 3-pointers. Freshman guard Tessa Johnson is having the game of her life with 15 points (one shy of her carer high) in 17 minutes.

South Carolina has minimized the impact of Caitlin Clark, who had 18 points on 5-8 shooting (3-4 3-point shooting) in the first quarter but has just seven points on 3-13 shooting (1-6 3-point shooting) since then.

USC’s Raven Johnson and Ashlyn Watkins both have three personal fouls.

USC just ahead

No. 1 South Carolina is up five, 57-53, on No. 1 Iowa with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter. The Gamecocks came out hot and had a 6-0 run to start the quarter (forcing an Iowa timeout) and led by as many as nine, 55-46. Caitlin Clark had 18 points in the first quarter but only has five points since. Guard Te-Hina Paopao has 11 points, her most this tournament past USC’s opening round win over a 16 seed (18 points).

Halftime: South Carolina 49, Iowa 46

What an entertaining quarter. No. 1 South Carolina leads No. 1 Iowa by three points at halftime, The Gamecocks earned themselves some breathing room after outscoring the Hawkeyes 29-19 (+10) and shot 12-22 in the period while limiting Clark to three points on 1-6 shooting. The three-point lead is USC’s largest of the game.

South Carolina had a mini 5-0 run in the final minute, with guard Te-Hina Paopao making a three and Raven Johnson stripping Clark for a fast-break layup. That was a dramatic improvement for USC in terms of controlling pace and playing more intentionally.

Foul watch: USC’s Bree Hall, Ashlyn Watkins and Tessa Johnson all have two. Iowa guard Sydney Affolter also has two.

Back and forth

It’s 36-36 with 4:11 to go until halftime. South Carolina just took its first lead, 36-34, on a Kamilla Cardoso layup. But it’s tied again after a great finish from Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke (6 points). Caitlin Clark hasn’t scored this quarter but has drawn a few non-shooting fouls that had USC coach Dawn Staley so angry her staff had to convince her to sit down on the bench and calm down.

Foul watch: USC’s Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins both have two.

End Q1: Iowa 27, South Carolina 20

After one quarter, No. 1 Iowa leads No. 1 South Carolina by seven points in the national championship game. Caitlin Clark is torching USC and has 18 of those 27 points (3-4 on threes, 5-6 on free throws). USC has no answers for her but has gotten back into the game after trailing 10-0.

The Hawkeyes shot 8-15 (53%) in that quarter against a strong Gamecocks defense and had eight fast break points. South Carolina had 14 of its 20 points in the paint and star freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley was a big help off the bench with seven points.

USC forward Bree Hall has two fouls.

Iowa starts hot early

About halfway through the first quarter, Iowa leads South Carolina 20-9. Star guard Caitlin Clark already has 13 points. South Carolina’s made the critical mistake of fouling her on 3-pointers twice already, and she’s 5-6 on those free throws. Iowa’s shooting 67% from the field to USC’s 29%.

The Hawkeyes also lead in fast break points 8-0. That was a huge plus for Iowa in its win over South Carolina in the Final Four last year. It was 10-0 here before South Carolina got a basket via center Kamilla Cardoso.

Starting lineups

For South Carolina: G Te-Hina Paopao, G Raven Johnson, G Bree Hall, F Chloe Kitts, C Kamilla Cardoso

For Iowa: G Sydney Affolter, G Kate Martin, G Caitlin Clark, G Gabbie Marshall, F Hannah Stuelke

History at stake

If South Carolina wins, the Gamecocks will finish a perfect 38-0 this season. That would resemble only the ninth perfect season (including all regular season and postseason games) by an NCAA women’s basketball team since the women’s tournament started in 1982 and first in eight years.

Here’s the full list, via USA TODAY Sports:

  • 1986: Texas Longhorns (34–0), coach Jody Conradt

  • 1995: UConn Huskies (35–0), coach Geno Auriemma

  • 1998: Tennessee Lady Vols (39–0), coach Pat Summitt

  • 2002: UConn Huskies (39–0), coach Geno Auriemma

  • 2009: UConn Huskies (39–0), coach Geno Auriemma

  • 2010: UConn Huskies (39–0), coach Geno Auriemma

  • 2012: Baylor Bears (40–0), coach Kim Mulkey

  • 2014: UConn Huskies (40–0), coach Geno Auriemma

  • 2016: UConn Huskies (38–0), coach Geno Auriemma

With a win, South Carolina would also move into a tie for third place on the NCAA’s all-time leaderboard for women’s basketball national championship. UConn has a record 11, Tennessee has eight and Baylor and Stanford sit in a tie for third with three championships apiece.

Caitlin Clark’s dominance

This will be Clark’s final college game, as she announced earlier this spring she’ll enter the 2024 WNBA Draft after her senior season (as opposed to using a fifth COVID year of eligibility). And what a career it’s been. Here’s a quick hit of some of the dazzling point guard’s career accomplishments with the Hawkeyes entering Sunday:

  • 3,921 career points (most in NCAA history, men’s or women’s)

  • 1,139 assists (Big Ten record)

  • 196 3-pointers this season (NCAA single-season record)

  • 58 career games of 30 or more points, most by any NCAA player the past 25 seasons

Clark, though, doesn’t have a national championship in three previous tournament appearances. Iowa lost to LSU in last year’s championship game and will be seeking its first ever national championship Sunday.

Betting line

South Carolina is favored by two possessions — either 6 points or 6.5 points, depending on which sportsbook you look at — for Sunday’s national championship game against Iowa. That’s down from a roughly 10-point spread in favor of USC when these teams met in the Final Four last season in Dallas.

USC opened as a roughly 4.5-point favorite, but that number quickly shot up as bettors quickly put down money on Iowa to cover that spread (by either losing by four or fewer points or winning outright).

“Tickets are split so far, but more money on the Hawkeyes,” one sportsbook representative told VegasInsider.com on Saturday.

The Gamecocks have been favored in all six of their 2024 NCAA Tournament games, but this is the first time they’ve been a single-digit favorite during March Madness.

South Carolina vs. Iowa: How to watch, stream