Hawkeyes advance to national title game

The Iowa Hawkeyes will play for the national title. They did what was thought to be impossible on Friday night as they knocked off previously undefeated and defending national champion South Carolina 77-73 in the second game of the semifinals at the Final Four in Dallas.

Iowa will face LSU on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on ABC with the NCAA title on the line.

While the Hawkeyes were double figure underdogs coming into the game, they lead basically the entire game. Leading the way was All American and national player of the year Caitlin Clark. She finished the game with 41 points to pace the Hawkeyes attack.

Iowa came out of the gate on the attack, pushing tempo and getting out in transition. They jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the game after a layup by Clark. With 2:02 left in the first quarter, Kate Martin knocked down a three pointer to push the advantage to 18-11. Monika Czinano scored off a screen roll pass from Clark to push the lead to 20-11.

Iowa lead 22-13 at the start of the second quarter. A Zia Cooke drive, score, and free throw put cut the Iowa edge to 24-21. But every time that the Gamecocks cut into the lead, Clark had the answer. She scored five straight for Iowa and pushed the lead back to 29-23 with 7:20 left in the half.

The Gamecocks scored five straight points to take the lead 32-21. Those five points were by Laeticia Amirhere. But, Clark answered right away with a three pointer. A pair of Kate Martin free throws put Iowa up 38-37 at the break.

Coming out of the gate in the second half instead of South Carolina flexing their muscle, but it was Iowa that came out swinging. Iowa scored the first eight points of the second half and went up 46-37 after a Martin layup. South Carolina went on a 6-0 run, capped by a Brea Beal layup to cut Iowa’s lead to two, 51-49, before Clark once again came up with the answer to push the lead to 53-49.

Monika Czinano scored with three seconds left in the third quarter to give Iowa a 59-55 lead heading into the fourth period.

South Carolina scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and after an Aliyah Boston layup they took a 60-59 lead with 9:05 left in the game. But, Clark once again fired by, draining a three pointer to put the Hawkeyes back on top.

The story down the stretch was really about Clark answering every time South Carolina tried to make a run. In fact, she answered four straight Gamecock buckets with one of her own. In the fourth, she scored 16 of Iowa’s 18 points and knocked down four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

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