It’s been over an entire calendar year since the South Carolina Gamecocks last lost a game, and they now stand just shy of the NCAA Tournament’s ultimate goal, set to compete in the 2024 national title game against the opponent who dealt them that loss.
The Gamecocks will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes this Sunday, April 7 in front of a national audience (3 p.m. ET, ABC), seeking to complete a perfect 38-0 season and win the third NCAA championship in program history.
South Carolina is not short on motivation
That South Carolina will get the opportunity to do that against the Hawkeyes, who defeated the Gamecocks in last year’s Final Four, would make that third championship that much sweeter—although it depends on who you ask.
“I haven’t watched last year’s game,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said when addressing media on Saturday. “The focus is on this team, this year.”
Staley’s players might think differently. Gamecocks guard Raven Johnson, who was infamously dared by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark to shoot the ball in last year’s matchup, has rewatched the painful loss “hundreds of times,” using it as motivation to improve her own game so that when South Carolina encountered Iowa again, she’d be ready. “Iowa was the team that I was looking…
