On April 7, 2024, two of the most dominant teams in girls college basketball—the Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks—faced off in a heated championship game. This match was more than just a game for both teams. For Iowa, senior Caitlin Clark single-handedly changed girls basketball. Clark ended her season with an average of 32 points per game and broke the NCAA Division 1 all-time leading scoring record among men and women. All that was left was taking the title of national champions. For South Carolina, this matchup was a revenge game. Throughout the past two seasons, the Gamecocks ended with an incredible 73-1 record, and the singular loss was during the 2303 final four game against the Hawkeyes.
Entering the game, Iowa quickly got out to a 10-0 run, leaving South Carolina fans shocked. But this didn’t stop the Gamecocks. Finally, with 7 minutes and 13 seconds left in the quarter, Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina’s center, scored. Slowly but surely, both teams got into their grove and ended the first half with a score of 46-49, with South Carolina leading.
The third quarter really took a turn for the worst for Iowa. South Carolina began hitting shot after shot with no response from the Hawkeyes. The third quarter finished with a nine-point lead for the Gamecocks. In the end, Iowa couldn’t recover from this deficit and lost 87-75 in the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks won their third national title.
Due to the increase in support for women’s college basketball, many students at BHS decided to watch the game. When asked, “Who did you want to win the national championship?” Junior, Lauren Kachadourian responded with Iowa because she feels, ”Caitlin Clark is so incredible and since she is the number 1 WNBA draft pick so she deserved the win.” Senior, Ava Thomaidis agreed with Kachadourian and was rooting for Iowa. Although Thomaidis originally wanted UConn to win, after they were eliminated she, “wanted Iowa to win because [she] wanted to see Clark finally win a title” but knew it would “be hard with South Carolina’s amazing undefeated record.”
Ultimately, many viewers of the game wished that Iowa would win so that Caitlin Clark could get the title that she deserved but South Carolina undoubtedly deserved the win and title of national champions.
