CLEVELAND — Just when you thought this women’s basketball season couldn’t give any more, just when you thought it had drained itself of record on-court performances, all-time viewership numbers and compelling grudge matches, it is giving us an opportunity to witness all three in one game, pitting Iowa against South Carolina in the national championship showdown most fans and every ABC executive wanted.
It had to end this way, right? Great player versus great team. The quest for the perfect ending versus the pursuit of the perfect season. An opportunity for South Carolina to avenge its only loss of the last two seasons. A way to cap a memorable season with a potentially unforgettable finale.
If the Iowa-LSU regional final drew an average of 12.3 million viewers on a Monday night on cable, it boggles the mind to think what the Iowa-South Carolina rematch of last year’s national semifinal could do Sunday on network television. You have Caitlin Clark, Iowa’s transcendent star and expected No. 1 pick of the upcoming WNBA Draft, seeking to go out on top after losing in last season’s title game. And you have South Carolina, with virtually an all-new lineup, seeking to finish what it could not a year ago.
The latter is why sophomore guard Raven Johnson has called this the…
