Undefeated, unforgettable
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina dynasty rolls and repeats as NCAA champions
Fred Jeter | 4/11/2024, 6 p.m.
The University of South Carolina women’s basketball ended its season with the same number of losses it started with – zero.
In becoming the 10th team to go undefeated, the 38-0 Gamecocks defeated Iowa and its headliner Caitlin Clark, 87-75, for the NCAA crown April 7 in Cleveland.
It was the third NCAA title for USC Coach Dawn Staley, who also won one as a player for the University of Virginia.
Coach Staley’s USC teams also won the 2017 and 2022 titles. The only other Black woman to win a championship was Carolyn Peck with Purdue in 1999.
The current Gamecock prevailed, convincingly, despite having no returning starters from a year ago.
USC is 110-3 over the past three seasons and has won 80 of its last 81 games dating to the 2022 campaign. The lone loss a year ago was to Iowa in the semifinals.
Freshman Tessa Johnson led USC with 19 points while 6-foot-7 Brazilian Kamilla Cardozo had 15 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots. Cardozo was named the Finals Most Outstanding Player.
Defensively, Raven Johnson held Clark in check for the final three quarters. Clark, the National Player of the Year and all-time NCAA scoring leader, had 18 points in the first quarter but later hit just five of 20 shots with Johnson sticking close.
The WNBA draft will be April 15 in Brooklyn with Clark sure to be picked No. 1 by the Indiana Fever. She likely will make her pro debut May 14 on opening night of the WNBA season. Cardozo also has announced that she is headed to the WNBA.
