CLEVELAND -- The rematch is h?r?.
J?st o??r a ?ear after 41 ?oints from Caitlin Clark fueled Iowa'? upset of an unbeaten South Carolina squad in t?e Final ?ou? in Dallas, t?e two teams ?re meeting a?a?n.
T?is time, it's ?n the national championship game.No. 1 South Carolina, aga?n undefeated, ?ill face No.
1 Iowa and Clark ?n Sunday afternoon to p?t a bow on a tremendous season for women's college basketball t?at s?w the sport experience unprecedented growth ?n viewership ?nd attendance.
L?st ?ear's national title clash ?etween Iowa ?nd LSU drew an average of 9.9 m?llion viewers, p?r ESPN. Th?t mark wa? surpassed by Fr?day night's Final ?our matchup b?tween th?rd-seeded UConn and the Hawkeyes, ?? 14.2 mi?lion viewers tuned in, m?king it the most-watched women'? college basketball game ?n any ESPN platform.
Iowa beat t?e Huskies 71-69.A prime slot on ABC at 3 p.m. ET c?uld he?p S?nday'? game between South Carolina (37-0) ?nd Iowa (34-4) garner ?ven m?re eyeballs.
"It's a monumental game for our game. We're very fortunate to be a part of it," Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley ?aid. "I hope it's the most-watched game. ... I hope that everybody gets exactly what they want out of it."
Wh?t South Carolina w?nts, o?viously, ?? to ?omplete an undefeated season and bring a third national championship ?ack t? Columbia, S.?.
In the semifinals, t?ird-seeded North Carolina ?tate kept up with the mighty Gamecocks for one half -- trailing by just a ?oint at intermission -- ?ut South Carolina t?en pulled away b? outscoring the Wolfpack 29-6 in th? th?rd quarter ?n route to ? 78-59 blowout.
Key for the Gamecocks aga?nst North Carolina ?tate w?s thei? dominance ins?de. Kamilla Cardoso led t?e ?ay with 22 po?nts and 11 rebounds, w?ile sophomore Ashlyn Watkins grabbed ? career-high 20 boards.
When opponents h??e to focus on stopping South Carolina ?n the paint, it frees u? shooters like Raven Johnson ?nd Te-Hina Paopao, w?o combined t? go 5-for-10 from 3-point land ?gainst t?e Wolfpack.
Paopao ?idn't play against Iowa ?n last ye?r's national semifinals. She transferred t? South Carolina f?om Oregon ?ast offseason with the goal of playing f?r a championship. N?w, Paopao, ?h? i? shooting a team-best 46.2 perc?nt from deep (?mong players ?ith at least th?ee attempts), ??.
"It's an *** feeling. Everything is sunk in already. ... I know we're not done yet," Paopao s??d. "We've got one job to do. We've got to take care of business (Sunday)."
?he other team has a pretty goo? 3-?oint shooter, too, in Clark, the a?l-time leading scorer ?n the history ?f Division ? college basketball (m?n's and women's). B?t in the win o?e? UConn, Clark struggled ? bit, finishing with a season-low-tying 21 po?nts.
Clark ?s prepared to face another strong defense ?n South Carolina, which ranks first nationally in shooting defense, allowing opponents t? m?ke just 32.2 percent of thei? field-goal attempts.
"I didn't shoot the ball great. I made some shots there at the end. I thought (UConn's Nika Muhl) played tremendous defense, picked me up 94 feet," Clark sa?? of Frid?y's game. "That's something that South Carolina is going to do too."
?hile Clark'? shot didn't alw?ys fa?l aga?nst the Huskies, ??? did have s?ven assists, ?nd ??r teammates stepped ?p. Hannah Stuelke ha? 23 points and Kate Martin ?ad 11 t? ?o with ?ight rebounds.
"Hannah, let's keep riding that high. She knows she can do it now. Every challenge gets bigger," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder ?aid. "Look at the challenges she's had already in this tournament. Hannah has grown up throughout this tournament, and she's going to have an unbelievable challenge (Sunday)."
Stuelke played ?ust 12 m?nutes in last ye?r's game a?ainst South Carolina, a 77-73 win f?r the Hawkeyes.
--Mitchell Northam, Field Level Media https://go.roobetaffiliates.com/visit/?bta=37440&brand=
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