South Carolina Basketball: Final Four matchup with Iowa might be most anticipated women’s game ever

South Carolina basketball reached its third straight Final Four with a convincing win over the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday. It was a dominant performance from Aliyah Boston that propelled the Gamecocks ahead of Maryland after the Terps got off to a fast start. Led by Boston, South Carolina’s size and depth were too much to overcome as the Lady Gamecocks gave the Greenville crowd lots to cheer for as the home-state team continued marching toward history.

Now just two victories away from an undefeated season and back-to-back national championships, Dawn Staley’s team will face a unique test in the Iowa Hawkeyes. Specifically, they will face a unique test in Naismith National Player of the Year, Caitlin Clark.

A classic “unstoppable force meets immovable object” scenario awaits Final Four viewers on Friday. It is a dream matchup for the NCAA and the television networks as the best defense in women’s college basketball—maybe the best ever—will face one of the best offensive players in the history of the sport. The recently-announced 2022-2023 National Player of the Year (Clark) will face off against last year’s National Player of the Year (Boston).

Clark and the Hawkeyes have averaged over 85 points per game during their four NCAA Tournament matchups this postseason while the Gamecocks are giving up about 50 points per contest. Offense vs. defense will be the story, and it should be outrageously entertaining. The crowd in Dallas will be in for a treat and, quite possibly, a game unlikely any other. It’s only too bad that the matchup won’t be in the final.

The main story with the Big Ten Tournament champs is clearly their All-American guard. Among the country’s leaders in points per game and assists per game, Caitlin Clark plays a style of basketball never before seen in women’s college basketball. Clark is the women’s game’s version of Luka Doncic: she can score more than anyone else, pass better than anyone else, and has the size at six feet tall to compete all over the floor. Her ability to score from anywhere within 30 feet of the basket is unmatched in the sport.

Dawn Staley will throw multiple looks at Clark to try to slow her down. The Gamecocks have two National Defensive Player of the Year candidates in Brea Beal and Aliyah Boston, and Beal will likely be the most-used defender against #22 in yellow, black, and white. Zia Cooke, Laeticia Amihere, and Bree Hall will probably spend time marking Clark, as well. If and when she gets past her defender, shot blockers like Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso will be waiting. The American Airlines Arena floor may collapse from crowd noise the first time Clark and Boston meet at the rim.

Caitlin Clark is incredible, but she is not the only good player on Iowa’s roster. Hannah Stuelke was the Big Ten’s Sixth Woman of the Year, and Monika Czinano was a first-team All-Conference selection at center. Longtime Iowa basketball coach Lisa Bluder is one of the country’s best and will be fired up for her first Final Four.

As good as Iowa is, they do have some deficiencies. Like most teams, they are significantly smaller than the Gamecocks. Only one Lady Hawkeye that gets minutes is taller than 6’2″ (Czinano), while Carolina has three of their top-7 players that are at least 6’4″. Iowa has the 307th-ranked scoring defense in college basketball as they give up a full 20 points more per game than the Gamecocks. As captivating as the Hawkeye offense vs. the Gamecock defense storyline is, the matchup between the Gamecock offense and the Hawkeye defense could be what decides the game.

Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin loosely gave her prediction for the Final Four.

Some records are also in danger of being broken Friday night. Caitlin Clark (along with Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore) is within striking distance of the NCAA Tournament 3-pointers record. Clark needs three deep balls to tie Kia Nurse’s single-tournament record of 22 made shots from downtown. The Gamecocks’ defense is also just three total blocks shy of 2014 UConn’s single-season mark of 324 swats.

Iowa will almost assuredly not meet its scoring averages against Carolina. The Lady Gamecocks have not allowed more than 77 points in a game all year, and they’ve only allowed 70 points three times (against Stanford in overtime, UConn, and Maryland). Conversely, it is unlikely that the Gamecocks’ defense will hold Iowa to their 51 points allowed per game average.

College basketball fans will be gifted a great game on Friday night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and the ESPN App, and tipoff will be at 9:30 after the conclusion of the Virginia Tech-LSU matchup. The winners of each game will face off for the national title on Sunday at 3:30 on ABC.