(Cleveland, OH) – For the second consecutive season, the Iowa Hawkeyes came up with a loss in the National Championship game as they fell to South Carolina 87-75. South Carolina is the first team to go undefeated since the 2015-16 UConn Huskies.
The first quarter of action started off on a hot streak for Iowa after putting up a 20-9 lead throughout the first five minutes of action. South Carolina started to march back, but Clark kept the Hawkeyes ahead, putting down 18 first-quarter points to put Iowa up 27-20 to end the first quarter. When it came to the second quarter, South Carolina’s defense started to wake up in the beginning while they hit bucket after bucket. Their momentum pushed them over Iowa to take a 49-46 lead heading into halftime.
Iowa came into the third quarter with one of their lowest-scoring quarter of the game, putting down just 13 points. Clark wasn’t able to hit a three-pointer after going 0-4 from beyond the arc as Kamilla Cardoso and Chloe Kitts continued to add bucket after bucket to push their lead to 68-59 to enter the fourth quarter. While it may have seemed like South Carolina would’ve rolled with the rest of the game, Iowa never gave up, pushing the tempo to start off the fourth quarter. The Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter with just 6:27 left to put themselves within single digits. Gabbie Marshall made a save pass to Sydney Affolter who put in a two-point bucket to bring the game within five. That’s the only time we saw the game close as Iowa took shot after shot and couldn’t hit any bucket as the Gamecocks took the 87-75 victory. Caitlin Clark had this to say about the loss and her career.
Leading for South Carolina was Tessa Johnson who knocked down 19 points and hauled in four rebounds. Kamilla Cardoso shot 7-14 from the field while putting down a double-double of 15 points and 17 boards. Cardoso also played an important role in the defensive game with three blocks on the day. Te-Hina Paopao was able to put down 14 points after going 3-4 from beyond the arc for South Carolina while Chloe Kitts knocked down a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to finish off the game.
On the opposite end, Iowa was led by Caitlin Clark who had 18 points alone in the first quarter of action and finished with 30 points and eight rebounds while dishing out five assists. She didn’t fare well from the field, going just 10-28 throughout the game, and had four turnovers. Kate Martin came up just behind as usual with 16 points and five boards while going 5-6 from the charity stripe. Sydney Affolter had a good performance with 12 points, three rebounds, and three steals. The last top scorer was Hannah Stuelke who shot 50% from the field and had 11 total points.
The difference in the game was the fresh legs coming off the bench for the Gamecocks who had 37 bench points, meanwhile, Iowa had 0. South Carolina also relied on their big of Kamilla Cardoso who helped in their 48-32 advantage of points in the paint. South Carolina also led in second-chance points with a 30-16 advantage with a 51-29 advantage in rebounds. Iowa only led in one category in the game which was in fast break points with a 12-10 advantage.
While the season is over, Coach Bluder is still looking for the fans to come out with the same energy next season. Iowa will be looking a bit different next year. Caitlin Clark has officially declared that she will enter the WNBA Draft. They also graduate Kate Martin, Molly Davis, and Gabbie Marshall.
The Hawkeyes finish the season 34-5 while South Carolina goes undefeated with a 38-0 record.
