The Athletic has live coverage of Iowa vs. South Carolina in the women’s national championship game.
CLEVELAND — There’s some grit to Sydney Affolter’s game, which is exactly what you’d expect from someone who played basketball on Chicago’s South Side.
The Iowa junior competed for women’s basketball pioneer coach Mary Pat Connolly and was a three-time all-state honoree. Affolter’s on-court aggressiveness and willingness to scrap, whether it’s for a rebound in the post or on the floor for a loose ball, has given her the label of “Chicago tough.” It’s a moniker the 5-foot-11 guard accepts but not with a full-throated endorsement.
“I think people are just trying to fit that narrative,” Affolter said. “I did grow up with an older brother, and I think that’s where a lot of my toughness comes from. I played with the boys growing up before I could play with the girls. So just having an older brother to beat up on me a little bit has made me tough.”
But, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says, Affolter is “a very blue-collar player.”
Whether Affolter gained a calloused exterior from her older sibling, developed it in her neighborhood as a youth or acquired it from playing in the Big Ten, she’s worthy of the description. When the Hawkeyes have needed a dose of…
