Caitlin Clark’s storybook career with the Iowa Hawkeyes has seen its final chapter. While the perfect ending would have included Clark raising the NCAA Championship trophy and cutting the net to cap off a historic career, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks had other ideas.
The only undefeated team in women’s college basketball, the Gamecocks finish their season with a perfect record at 38-0 with their 87-75 win over Iowa. The win gives Staley her third NCAA Championship as a head coach and South Carolina’s third trophy since 2017, continuing a dominant run.
We can’t act like Caitlin Clark didn’t bring her best. In the first quarter, she set a new NCAA Tournament record by scoring 18 points to give the Hawkeyes a hot start. But Clark would slow down over the next three quarters, where she’d finish with 30 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
For South Carolina, they got their long-awaited revenge over Iowa, who eliminated the Gamecocks during last year’s Final Four, ending their then-undefeated campaign. But Karmilla Cardoso wasn’t going to settle for anything less than first place this time around. Despite Cardoso hauling in 17 rebounds to pair with her 15 points, it was actually freshman guard Tessa Johnson who led the way for South Carolina, scoring a career-high 19 points off the bench.
Caitlin Clark has played her final minute with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and she has inspired a whole new generation of basketball fans who may one day become collegiate athletes.
But for Clark, it’s not the end. It’s simply time for her next chapter, where she’ll become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever. Meanwhile, now there’s a collection of Gamecocks who probably improved their draft stock too, but it won’t be enough to surpass Clark as the top pick.
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