South Carolina women's basketball falls in Final Four shocker
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Iowa jumped on South Carolina early and then fended off every charge in the second half to pull off a 77-73 stunner.
South Carolina repeatedly pulled within one possession in the second half, but could never get over the hump. The last time was the dagger.
The Gamecocks trailed 73-71 with 57 seconds left following a layup by Zia Cooke. They forced Caitlin Clark into a long three that missed badly, but McKenna Warnock came up with the rebound. South Carolina had to foul and Clark made both free throws.
“That was a long shot and a long rebound,” Aliyah Boston said. “Those can be really hard just based on how hard that came off the backboard, and that shot ricocheted off the backboard. It was really high, and we just weren’t in the position to get it.”
South Carolina had no answer for Clark. The Gamecocks tried Kierra Fletcher, Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, and finally Brea Beal on Clark, but she was able to shoot over the smaller players and get around the bigger players.
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“I thought we had a couple of miscommunications,” Dawn Staley said. “And then when you’re playing a player like Caitlin, you kind of lose your spacing out there, and you lose who’s good where.”
Clark had 11 points in the first quarter, 19 at halftime, and 25 going into the fourth. She finished with 41 points for the second game in a row, and had eight assists, six rebounds, and eight turnovers.
“She played a hell of a game,” Bree Hall said. “Leading up to the game we knew what she could do and she went out and did what she typically does.”
Boston was plagued by foul trouble and played just eight minutes in the first half. She was scoreless with three rebounds during her brief time on the court. She never found her rhythm and had just eight points and 10 rebounds in only 25 minutes.
With Boston out, Cooke almost single-handedly kept the Gamecocks alive. She scored South Carolina’s first six points of the game and had 18 in the first half. She finished with 24 points and eight rebounds.
Even when Boston was on the bench, Iowa packed its defense in the paint and dared South Carolina to shoot from long-distance. The tactic mostly worked.
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South Carolina dominated the glass and Kamilla Cardoso and Laeiticia Amihere were able to produce inside, but the Gamecocks missed open shot after open shot.
“I think we just beat ourselves tonight,” Kierra Fletcher said. “Some of the shots that we make, they weren’t falling. It just didn’t seem like our night, it was an uphill battle.”
It got so bad that Dawn Staley inserted Olivia Thompson into the game to shoot threes. Iowa left her open too, and she missed two attempts in two minutes. As a team, South Carolina missed its first nine three-point attempts and 13 of its first 14, finishing just 4-20 from three and shooting 39% overall.
Iowa shot 49.1% and made all 14 free throws. That was enough to over come South Carolina’s 49-25 rebounding advantage. South Carolina had more offensive rebounds (26) than Iowa had total rebounds.
Kamilla Cardoso had 14 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks in 32 minutes. Amihere eight points and six rebounds. Johnson found her shooting touch in the second half and made 3-6 from behind the arc. She finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Monika Czinano finished with 18 points.
Notes:
South Carolina set the all-time single-season block record in the second quarter when Kamilla Cardoso blocked Kate Martin. That gave South Carolina 325 blocks. … The Gamecocks finished with five blocks and Friday and 326 for the season. … Brea Beal had an off night, shooting 1-9 wiht just one rebound and one assist. … South Carolina finished with 15 turnovers that led to 18 Iowa points. … South Carolina got its bench production, with 38 points compared to six for Iowa. … Aliyah Boston braids report: Boston continued to wear her special garnet braids. … Dawn Staley fit report: Staley wore a brown Louis Vuitton bomber jacket. … Announced attendance for the session was 19,288, a sellout crowd.
