Sports 5 Omar Cook Sports 5 Omar Cook

South Carolina Beats Iowa in NCAA Championship Led by Dawn Staley

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks have emerged victorious against Iowa in the NCAA Women's Championship. We discuss it here!

 

Dawn Staley hoists the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship trophy after a South Carolina win.

Photo cred: Chantel Jennings

By: Joshua Martin

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks made history Sunday afternoon, inside of a packed Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH. Becoming only the fifth team in NCAA history to cap off an undefeated season with a national championship victory. The Caitlin Clark led Iowa Hawkeyes were no match against the Lady Gamecocks tenacious defense, who additionally became only the tenth team in women’s basketball history to complete an entire season undefeated. Finishing at an impressive 38-0. 

Coming off the success of Caitlin Clark’s record breaking season, the Lady Hawkeyes started the game off hot. Jumping out to a 20-9 advantage in the first quarter, finishing the quarter with a 27-20 lead. However, after South Carolina made the necessary adjustments, specifically Coach Staley’s placement of guard Raven Johnson on Iowa’s Clark, the SEC team wouldn’t finish a quarter trailing. Johnson seemingly took the matchup personally as the two have a checkered on court history.  

“Don’t let her score. I was ready for the moment and I take defense very hard, like I take it to heart. I studied her moves, and I was ready. I had confidence this year. I was telling myself last year’s not going to happen again.”
— Raven Johnson

Clark finished the game with 30 points but it wasn’t efficient. When Raven guarded the nation’s top player head on, she shot 3 of 11, 27.3% shooting and only scored 7 points. With Caitlin effectively stymied, the game became manageable for the 2024 AP coach of the year and her driven South Carolina squad.   

“It doesn’t always end like you want it to end. I’m just super proud of where I work. It’s unbelievable.”
— Dawn Staley

After the massive win, Staley thanked Clark and her contributions to the game after her legendary season.

Staley and the Lady Gamecocks have amassed an astonishing 74-1 record over the past two seasons. They also became the first team in the past 25 seasons to go undefeated without any returning starters from the previous season.

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Sports 3 Adonis Armstrong Sports 3 Adonis Armstrong

LSU Dominates as the Lady Tigers Win Their First Championship in School History

LSU Lady Tigers win their first women's national title in school history with a dominating performance, led by Angel Reese as the Most Outstanding Player. We discuss it here!

 
Angel Reese and LSU Lady Tigers

Angel Reese and the LSU Lady Tigers

Tom Pennington via Getty Images

By: Joshua Martin

It’s funny how in this country we can see the same gesture and come away with two different conclusions. It's also funny how a dominating performance by the LSU Lady tigers can be overshadowed with everything else that's going on off the court.

Let's start by giving props to Angel Reese as she wins the Tournaments Most Outstanding Player. The double double machine carried her strong regular season performance into the tournament and was undoubtedly the team's emotional leader. 

Jasmine Carson

Jasmine Carson

Michael Johnson via Nola.com

The Tigers got off to a hot start shooting the ball, led by Jasmine Carson’s 21 points in the first half off the bench. The senior guard was super efficient, hitting all seven of her first half shots including a three pointer off the glass right before halftime.

National Player of the year Caitlin Clark struggled to find a rhythm as she was held scoreless in the second quarter despite accumulating 14 for the half. Clark also made NCAA tournament history passing Sheryl Swoopes’ record for most points in a single NCAA women’s tournament. 

The Hawkeyes comeback was valiant but short lived. Foul trouble was a major issue all night for Iowa. Late in the third quarter Iowa’s starting center picked up her fourth foul of the game while Clark simultaneously was hit with a technical foul. 

The Tigers ultimately cruised to a 102 - 85 victory, which is the first women’s national title in school history. 

During the closing moments of the game, the tiger’s Reese hit Clark with the “you can’t see me” gesture made popular by WWE wrestler John Cena and proceeded to point to her ring finger. 

Angel Reese

Maddie Meyer via Getty Images

Clark made a similar gesture during Iowa’s Elight Eight victory versus Louisville, which drew praise from Cena. 

“I don’t take disrespect lightly.”
— Angel Reese

Several big named athletes came to the defense of Reese after many viewed her actions as classless, including Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James

Let me be clear this has nothing to do with Clark. She is an amazing player.

But…

“I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. Ya’ll told me that all year. But when other people do it, ya’ll don’t say nothing. So this is for the girls who look like me”
— Angel Reese

To me “unapologetically You” equals “unapologetically Black” Keep doing your thang sis!!

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