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 forward to playing,” Johnson said. “It’s no better way of beating a team that beat you last year.”
Why the Gamecocks are better this year
The improved play of Johnson, who has averaged 8.6 points and 4.6 assists in the 2024 NCAA Tournament while shooting 53.8 percent on 3-pointers, is just one of several reasons to like the Gamecocks on Sunday.
This season’s South Carolina team looks considerably different than last season’s—having lost an entire starting lineup’s worth of players to the 2023 WNBA Draft—but it’s also more balanced. Whereas previous Gamecock iterations depended heavily upon offensive rebounding and controlling the paint—an effective approach, to be certain, but not without weakness—the current South Carolina roster is a multifaceted offensive threat, boasting several players who can both drive and shoot the basketball and push the envelope in transition, all while while retaining the fierce defensive identity that Staley’s teams have become known for.
Staley, a master recruiter, landed former Oregon guard Te-Hina Paopao in the transfer portal, and her steady play and 3-point shooting have been the perfect complement to Johnson’s next-level athleticism. Factor in the explosion of freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley and the improved jumpshooting of junior wing Bree Hall, and the Gamecocks have become more versatile and less prone to getting bogged down in the halfcourt than in years past—something that Iowa took advantage of in last season’s Final Four.
The determining factor, however, still could be in the Gamecocks’ frontcourt. Center Kamilla Cardoso, who anchored a South Carolina defense that led Division I in defensive efficiency (75.9 points allowed per 100 possessions; Her Hoop Stats), has benefited from the Gamecocks’ guard play, with the team’s overall level of floor spacing and shot creation making it tough for opponents to handle her 6-foot-7 frame in the paint.
“One person can’t stop her, there’s no way. I don’t know if two or three can stop her, to be quite honest,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said of Cardoso. It’s something South Carolina’s most recent opponent, NC State, found out the hard way; Cardoso scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field in just 23 minutes, and her presence near the rim turned the Wolfpack into a jumpshooting team, a common occurrence for opponents who face the WBCA Defensive Player of the Year.
How South Carolina can finish the job
Just as the Hawkeyes will likely defend Cardoso with several players, expect the Gamecocks to throw multiple defenders at Clark. Slowing the star senior down is easier said than done and stopping her altogether is impossible, but South Carolina has the athletes on the perimeter to at least make life tough on Clark, similar to how UConn just did in the Final Four when she was held to 7-of-18 shooting.
Staley knows that no fewer than a full 40 minutes of effort will be enough. She’s said that Iowa is playing its best basketball. Her team is too, though, and it’s achingly close to completing a perfect season. The Gamecocks have overcome every challenge and passed every test; they’ve put in the work and earned the awards. They’ve done everything necessary to get the opportunity to compete for a national championship. All that’s left is to win it.