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The South Carolina women’s basketball team has called this season its “revenge tour” after Iowa ended the Gamecocks’ perfect season in the Final Four in Dallas last year. Today, the revenge tour’s last stop is against the opponent who sparked it — and this time it’s for a national title. The Gamecocks and Hawkeyes face off in the national championship game on Sunday in Cleveland. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said she hasn’t watched last year’s loss to Iowa. “The focus is on this team, this year.”Iowa is seeking its first national championship in program history. South Carolina is seeking its third championship and its second in the last three years.The Gamecocks are led this season by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who is averaging 14 points a game. Cardoso had a huge game against NC State in the Final Four, posting her 15th double-double of the season after scoring 16 of her 22 points in the first half, and grabbing 11 boards in the process.Other players who stepped up against the Wolfpack include Ashlyn Watkins, who broke records after grabbing 20 rebounds to set a new career-high and marked the most by any player off the bench in an NCAA Tournament game in the last 25 seasons. Her 15 defensive boards tied for fifth most in a single game in program history. Raven Johnson tallied her 16th game in double figures, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the second half, highlighted by a 3 during a 17-1 run by the Gamecocks in the third quarter.Johnson was waved off by Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in last year’s Final Four game on three-point attempts, something Johnson used as motivation to improve her game this year.”I think I was learning from the game, learning what I could have done better, what the team could have done better,” Johnson said. “Looking at how they scouted us. Looking at how they played me. Looking at how they played my team.””She’s in such a learning phase of her life,” Staley said. “She’s open to learning — not just basketball, but history. She’s learning what she likes. She’s learning a pathway of who she wants to be. And she’s unafraid to go out there to say or do some things that, it will rock you a little bit, it will make you laugh, but it is who she’s becoming.”A year later, things have changed. Johnson is 7 of 13 from 3 during the NCAA Tournament. She knocked down three of her five attempts from behind the arc in a blowout win over North Carolina State in the Final Four on Friday. With their win over NC State, South Carolina moved to 37-0 to mark the most wins in program history. The Gamecocks turned things up on both side of the ball in the third quarter, outscoring NC State 29-6. The 23-point margin in the third quarter was the largest by any team in a quarter in the Final Four, and the 29 points tied for the most in a quarter in a women’s national semifinal game.The Hawkeyes knocked off UConn in the Final Four. Clark shook off a sluggish first half to score 15 of her 21 points after the break as the Hawkeyes held off the Huskies 71-69. Clark is having a historic season, setting the Division I all-time leading scoring record and she is widely considered one of the best basketball players in the history of the sport. She has already declared for the WNBA draft and is expected to be the top overall pick by the Indiana Fever.”Going to the national championship game is, everybody’s stepping up, it’s not just me, it’s not just one player,” Clark said. “That’s not what this is. We wouldn’t be at this point right now if it was just one player. And everybody comes up and makes really big plays when we need them.”The two-time national player of the year insisted all season that her goal wasn’t to set records but to help Iowa to the title it narrowly missed a year ago. The Hawkeyes get their chance against the Gamecocks on Sunday.
The South Carolina women’s basketball team has called this season its “revenge tour” after Iowa ended the Gamecocks’ perfect season in the Final Four in Dallas last year.
Today, the revenge tour’s last stop is against the opponent who sparked it — and this time it’s for a national title. The Gamecocks and Hawkeyes face off in the national championship game on Sunday in Cleveland.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said she hasn’t watched last year’s loss to Iowa. “The focus is on this team, this year.”
Iowa is seeking its first national championship in program history. South Carolina is seeking its third championship and its second in the last three years.
The Gamecocks are led this season by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who is averaging 14 points a game. Cardoso had a huge game against NC State in the Final Four, posting her 15th double-double of the season after scoring 16 of her 22 points in the first half, and grabbing 11 boards in the process.
Other players who stepped up against the Wolfpack include Ashlyn Watkins, who broke records after grabbing 20 rebounds to set a new career-high and marked the most by any player off the bench in an NCAA Tournament game in the last 25 seasons. Her 15 defensive boards tied for fifth most in a single game in program history. Raven Johnson tallied her 16th game in double figures, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the second half, highlighted by a 3 during a 17-1 run by the Gamecocks in the third quarter.
Johnson was waved off by Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in last year’s Final Four game on three-point attempts, something Johnson used as motivation to improve her game this year.
“I think I was learning from the game, learning what I could have done better, what the team could have done better,” Johnson said. “Looking at how they scouted us. Looking at how they played me. Looking at how they played my team.”
“She’s in such a learning phase of her life,” Staley said. “She’s open to learning — not just basketball, but history. She’s learning what she likes. She’s learning a pathway of who she wants to be. And she’s unafraid to go out there to say or do some things that, it will rock you a little bit, it will make you laugh, but it is who she’s becoming.”
A year later, things have changed. Johnson is 7 of 13 from 3 during the NCAA Tournament. She knocked down three of her five attempts from behind the arc in a blowout win over North Carolina State in the Final Four on Friday. With their win over NC State, South Carolina moved to 37-0 to mark the most wins in program history. The Gamecocks turned things up on both side of the ball in the third quarter, outscoring NC State 29-6. The 23-point margin in the third quarter was the largest by any team in a quarter in the Final Four, and the 29 points tied for the most in a quarter in a women’s national semifinal game.
The Hawkeyes knocked off UConn in the Final Four. Clark shook off a sluggish first half to score 15 of her 21 points after the break as the Hawkeyes held off the Huskies 71-69. Clark is having a historic season, setting the Division I all-time leading scoring record and she is widely considered one of the best basketball players in the history of the sport. She has already declared for the WNBA draft and is expected to be the top overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
“Going to the national championship game is, everybody’s stepping up, it’s not just me, it’s not just one player,” Clark said. “That’s not what this is. We wouldn’t be at this point right now if it was just one player. And everybody comes up and makes really big plays when we need them.”
The two-time national player of the year insisted all season that her goal wasn’t to set records but to help Iowa to the title it narrowly missed a year ago. The Hawkeyes get their chance against the Gamecocks on Sunday.
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