Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Iowa

Caitlin Clark breaks down Iowa's first half vs. South Carolina in Final Four

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby: On3 Staff Report04/01/23

Iowa leads South Carolina 38-37 at the half after a tense back-and-forth affair in the Final Four which both teams adjusted their tactics multiple times in the first half.

Much of South Carolina’s adjustment centered around defending Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who finished the first half with 19 points despite facing a ton of attention.

Clark said her team needs to read South Carolina’s defensive action better.

“We’re trying to set a lot of ball screens because I think they’re trying to use their length of their post to trap me or double me, but our posts are slipping to the basket, so we need more of that action,” Clark said.

Clark managed to do that a handful of times in the first half, getting the ball and then feeding one of her bigs as they slipped to the basket. It’s one of the reasons Iowa is clinging to a small lead.

But South Carolina has had a lot of success crashing the glass on the offensive end in the Final Four showdown.

“Well we’ve got to set the tone on defense,” Clark said. “I thought we could have blocked out a little better in the second quarter. But if they’re going to get the ball around the rim off a rebound we don’t want to give up three-point plays. Too many three-point plays there, can’t put them at the free-throw line.”

The other real threat for the Gamecocks was guard Zia Cooke, who showed she can get downhill in a hurry. She had several straight-line drives that she converted into points.

Cooke nearly matched Clarke’s scoring output in the first half, scoring 18 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting in the first half of the Final Four contest.

But Clark was confident her Iowa squad could tighten up a bit defensively and get things clicking a little more on offense.

“We’re going to come out with the mentality that we can win and I think it all starts with confidence,” Clark said. “We were very confident to start the game.”

Clark is certainly not lacking confidence. On top of her scoring ability, she also sees the game incredibly well. Check her out here cooly waving her hand while opting not to defend a poor 3-point shooter for South Carolina.