Sydney Affolter made a layup while getting fouled and hit the free throw to cut the lead to 5.

But the next few possessions showed the impact of Kamilla Cardoso and Raven Johnson.

Addison O’Grady drove the lane for the Hawkeyes, but the South Carolina center blocked the shot. Then, off a missed shot by Johnson, Cardoso got the rebound and laid it in.

While Johnson struggled on offense, she excelled on defense. Down 8, Caitlin Clark decided to shoot a deep three from almost the logo – which is a testament of how closely Johnson guarded her.

Clark then got forced into a wild running shot as South Carolina cut off the pass to the wing. And at that point, the time was basically up. The Gamecocks from the free throw line managed to score the last 7 points of the game and win 87-75.

As is often the case with championship games, while the stars tend to shine, there is always an unexpected hero. Today, that was South Carolina freshman Tessa Johnson. The freshman scored a career-high 19 points from the bench to lead all scorers for South Carolina. All in all, it was South Carolina’s depth that might have won this game as their bench outscored Iowa’s 37-0.

The South Carolina Gamecocks finished off the perfect season, getting their revenge against the Hawkeyes to go 38-0 for the season, becoming the 10th team in history to go undefeated on the way to winning the national championship.

Congratulations to the South Carolina Gamecocks, the 2024 women’s basketball national champions!!!!