DALLAS — South Carolina’s season is over.
The Gamecocks on Friday lost to Iowa, 77-73, in the Final Four at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Their season ends with a 36-1 record.
Iowa took control of the game early. The Hawkeyes found easy runs to the rim on pick and rolls, finding holes in the South Carolina defense.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark — the Naismith National Player of the Year — scored 19 of her game-high 41 points in the first half. She also finished with eight assists and six rebounds. Iowa's Monika Czinano complemented Clark with 10 of her 18 points in the first half.
South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston (eight points, 10 rebounds) picked up two first-quarter fouls, and remained on the bench for the rest of the first half. Kamilla Cardoso (14 points, 14 rebounds) filled in well, controlling the offensive glass and scoring over smaller Iowa players.
South Carolina looked a bit out of character to start the third quarter. The team didn’t move the ball around as much as it usually does, and Iowa quickly went up by nine points at the 7:01 mark.
The Gamecocks weathered the storm and trimmed the lead to four points heading into the fourth.
Boston briefly cut the lead to one point with a layup, but a Clark 3-pointer put the Hawkeyes back up by two points.
South Carolina redshirt freshman Raven Johnson (13 points) made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 69-68 with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Clark answered later with a driving layup.
