Caitlin Clark dazzled on the biggest stage of her career. Clark had 41 points in Iowa's 77-73 upset win, over top ranked South Carolina. SC had won more than 40 straight games and was unbeaten coming into the Final Four in Dallas.
Clark's 41 in the 2nd most all time in a Women's Final Four game. It is second only to a 47 point performance by Sheryl Swoopes in 1993. It's just the second time since February of 2021 a single player has scored over 30 against SC. Clark also became the only player in Women's Basketball to have 40 or more in two straight NCAA Tournament games.
South Carolina has started games slowly in games during the tournament. That was again the case on Friday, as Iowa jumped out to a 22-13 lead after the 1st quarter. The Gamecocks would adjust in the second quarter outscoring Iowa 24-16. Iowa took a 38-37 lead into the halftime locker room.
The 3rd quarter was back and forth, Iowa was able to take the 3rd frame, 21-18. That gave them a four point lead at 59-55 going into the game's final quarter. Clark and Iowa did not shrink in the moment at all, they would play SC even which was enough for them to win, 77-73. SC and Iowa both had 18 points in the 4th, Clark scored or assisted on all of Iowa's field goals in that stretch.
South Carolina had a 26-5 advantage on the offensive glass, however they shot a paltry 4 of 20 from three point range. SC was also uncharacteristically in the negative on turnover margin. They were minus 5 , turning it over 15 times to Iowa's 10. Iowa shot 30% from three, but nearly 50% overall.
The upset win for Iowa snaps a winning streak for SC that was over 40 games and dated back to last season. It also stopped their quest to become the 5th program all time in NCAA Women's Basketball to go undefeated and win the national title. Iowa will play LSU in the Finals, Sunday.