Iowa, Caitlin Clark knock off defending champions South Carolina

Iowa took its largest lead of nine with 7:01 in the quarter, but South Carolina battled back with a 7-0 run. 

Back and forth they go. Iowa leads 59-55 heading into the final 10 minutes. 

Aliyah Boston scored her first points after going scoreless in the first half. Boston also picked up her third foul but remained on the floor. Another crucial piece to South Carolina Laeticia Amihere picked up her third foul.

One of the top defenses in the country is struggling to keep up with Iowa’s quick pace. The Hawkeyes are outscoring South Carolina by nine from beyond the arc. 

For just the second time this season, the Gamecocks trail after three quarters. 
 

Final 10 coming up ‼️

END 3 | Iowa 59, SC 55 x

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB)

With her 16th point, Clark notched 1,000 points on the dot this season. 

The Hawkeyes star becomes the sixth DI women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points in a single season. 

For the first time in DI basketball history, two players reached the 1,000-point total in a season. Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist was the first this season. 

Undefeated South Carolina has met its match. Iowa jumped out to a hot start offensively shooting 56% from the field more than 20% more than South Carolina’s season points allowed average. 

Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes with 11 first-quarter points. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s star Aliyah Boston racked up her second foul. She’ll likely sit for while.

This is the most the Gamecocks have trailed in the entire tournament, their back-to-back championship run is in jeopardy. 
 

👀👀👀 x

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB)

Today is the day. In less than nine hours the Final Four nightcap will tip off between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 Iowa on ESPN. 

This matchup has everything — the big names, stunning offense, intense defense. There’s a lot to read up on, so we narrowed it down from local to national to coverage from our site.  

Here are some readings to get you started: 

• The keys to South Carolina’s dominant defense — krikya18.com
• — Des Moines Register
•  — Sports Illustrated
•  — The State
•  — Greenville News
•  — Des Moines Register

The best defense versus the best offense. That sums up the Final Four matchup between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 Iowa in one sentence. 

The Gamecocks ride into Dallas looking for their second-straight NCAA national title and third overall. The Hawkeyes are searching for their first-ever national championship. Iowa returns to the Final Four after a 30-year drought; this marks South Carolina’s third consecutive Final Four. 

Defense wins championships. That was the case for Dawn Staley’s squad last season, and could like be again this year. Before Maryland posted the second-largest point total (75) on South Carolina in the Elite Eight, the Gamecocks' defense ranked top of the nation. But it still tops all teams in the tournament. It’s led by back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston. 

But South Carolina's defense will have to keep up with the electric Caitlin Clark-led offense. The junior phenom was just tapped as the National Player of the Year. Clark is coming off a historic 40-point triple-double. Currently, she leads the nation in assists and 3-pointers made. 

Here’s how the two teams stack up statistically: 

SOUTH CAROLINA	STATS	IOWA
80.5	POINTS	87.5 (1ST)
51.1	OPP POINTS	70.9
46.4	FG%	51.1 (1ST)
31.7	OPP FG%	39.8
49.5	REBS	39.6
18.6	OREB	7.8
8.9 (1ST)	BLOCKS	2.5
29.5 (1ST)	SCORING MARGIN	16.7

South Carolina's depth defensively and offensively wears down the opposition. The Gamecocks lead the nation in the most bench points (36). The standout senior class nicknamed "the Freshies" have a record of 128-8. 

Iowa's squad also has a lot of playing time together. The Hawkeye's starters have played 90 total games together that's the most of any DI women's team in the last 20 years. 

Where the Gamecocks excel, there's an adverse stat that puts Iowa on the same level. Fire, meet water. South Carolina, meet Iowa. 

First round 

The top-seeded Gamecocks took on No. 16 Norfolk State in the NCAA tournament first round and handily won by 32 points. Laeticia Amihere and Zia Cooke led South Carolina with 11 points each. 

• No. 1 South Carolina 72, No. 16 Norfolk State 40 | 

Second round 

In the next round, South Carolina faced No. 8 South Florida. The Bulls took an early five-point lead and kept it close in the first half, but the Gamecocks pulled away in the second creating a 31-point-sized hole and outscored South Florida 24-9 in the fourth quarter.

• No. 1 South Carolina 76, No. 8 South Florida 45 | 

Sweet 16

South Carolina met No. 4 UCLA in the Sweet 16. The Gamecocks posted another wire-to-wire win. It was a dogged defense battle where neither team shot particularly well. Brea Beal, Kamilla Cardaso and Bree Hall led South Carolina with 11 points each.  

• No.1 South Carolina 59, No. 4 UCLA 43 | 

Elite Eight 

No. 2 Maryland handed South Carolina its toughest battle of the tournament. The Terps put up the second-highest point total against the Gamecocks this season. Ultimately, South Carolina pulled away in the second half to beat Maryland by double-digits. 

• No. 1 South Carolina 86, No. 2 Maryland 75 | 

First round

Second-seeded Iowa faced No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana in the opening round. The Hawkeyes routed the first-time tournament team outshooting the Lions 60% to 25.4% from the field. 

• No. 2 Iowa 95, No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana 43 | 

Second round

The Hawkeyes got a scare in the second round versus No. 10 Georgia. The Bulldogs kept up with Iowa's top-scoring offense until the final two minutes of the game when the Hawkeyes went on a 6-0 run to the final buzzer. 

• No. 2 Iowa 74, No. 10 Georgia 66 | 

Sweet 16 

Next, Iowa took on No. 6 Colorado. Caitlin Clark's 18-point second-half effort lifted the Hawkeyes over the Buffaloes particularly in the third quarter when Iowa outscored Colorado 25-13. 

• No. 2 Iowa 87, No. 6 Colorado 77 | 

Elite Eight

Before moving on to Dallas, the Hawkeyes rolled No. 5 Louisville. Iowa held control over last year's Final Four team to move on to their own. Clark posted a historic triple-double with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds; no DI basketball player ever recorded such a feat. 

• No. 2 Iowa 97, No. 5 Louisville 83 |