South Carolina gets revenge against Caitlin Clark and Iowa, wins 3rd women’s national championship

(CNN) — The women’s NCAA basketball tournament has been full of star power, with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark front and center.

But there wasn’t a team as loaded South Carolina’s.

For the third time, the Gamecocks are national champions, defeating Iowa 87-75, completing a perfect 38-0 season and preventing Clark from having the perfect end to her college career.

The win also avenges South Carolina’s loss to Iowa in last year’s Final Four, the team’s only loss that season. The Gamecocks are now 109-3 in the last three seasons.

South Carolina is now 3-0 in national championship games. The other titles came in 2017 and 2022, all under head coach Dawn Staley.

For the second year in a row, Iowa and Clark have come up short in the national championship game, losing to LSU a year ago.

This was Clark’s final game in an Iowa unform before heading to the WNBA. She’s expected to be the top pick in the draft April 15.

On Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, the best team beat the team that had the best player. Clark, despite all the accolades she’s received, will leave for the WNBA as a two-time national runner-up.