A battle for the ages is shaping up on Sunday to decide the NCAA Women’s National Basketball championship.
No. 1 seed Iowa, led by all-time NCAA scorer Caitlin Clark, will face undefeated South Carolina, a team hungering for revenge after being dumped last year by the Hawkeyes in the semifinals.
The championship game is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at Rocket Mortgage Field House in Cleveland, Ohio.
Iowa had to sweat a little at the end before winning. UConn had a shot to potentially tie or win the game, but an offensive foul, a Clark free throw, and some nervous inbounds plays had to b endured before the final score of 71-69 was in the books.
Clark had 21 points in the victory. Hannah Stuelke led the Hawkeyes with 23 points. Paige Bueckers had 17 for UConn.
In the earlier game, South Carolina had no problem with North Carolina State, rolling past them by 78-59.
Kamilla Cardoso dominated inside for South Carolina, despite playing with a sore knee in the second half.
Cardoso scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Gamecocks used a third-quarter blitz to pull away. South Carolina (37-0) is the first team since 2016 to take an undefeated record into the women’s title game.