CLEVELAND — The NCAA Women’s Tournament championship game is set. The Iowa Hawkeyes will be taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks, a team no one has been able to defeat this season.
Dawn Staley’s team is on a mission to join an exclusive list of teams that have won the national title with a perfect record. So far there have only been nine teams to do so, and the 37-0 Gamecocks almost became the 10th team last year before losing to Iowa in the Final Four.
Despite losing all five starters from last season, the Gamecocks have an even deeper roster and are stronger on both sides of the court than they were a year ago. Kamilla Cardoso is the veteran leader who is averaging a team-high 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. South Carolina is hard to guard because seven Gamecocks average over eight points per game.
Meanwhile, Iowa (34-4) has had the brightest spotlight on them this season as Caitlin Clark’s re-writing of collegiate basketball scoring records seemed to happen every time the Hawkeyes took the floor. Clark may own all of…
