Day 282: South Carolina’s Day, Caitlin Clark’s Game

Clark and the Iowa Buckeyes in the regional semifinals against Colorado, March 24, 2023. Cal Sport Media/Alamy.com

The first quarter it was Caitlin Clark with 18 points and the entire South Carolina lineup with 20.

The rest of the game shaped up differently, with South Carolina storming back with 29 points in the second quarter and controlling the second half. The Gamecocks’ freshmen, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson, brought powerful depth and energy behind the starting squad, and South Carolina’s dominance under the basket, with 51 rebounds to Iowa’s 29, was another deciding factor. Superstar Kamilla Cardoso came up with 17 of those rebounds and often looked like she was alone out there. The Gamecocks won decisively, 87-75.

South Carolina’s undefeated season, after losing all five starters from their Final Four squad of 2023, is a great sports story. But Caitlin Clark’s season and career (so far) is a sports epic. But for her, I doubt I would have spent a Sunday afternoon watching a basketball game. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, while moved to tears in postgame interviews by her young team’s unlikely run, also wisely acknowledged Clark’s profound influence on the sport of women’s basketball and the debt that everyone in that stadium — and every girl who dreams of being there someday — owes to Clark.

Clark may not have won an NCAA championship, but she did something they once said couldn’t be done— she made women’s basketball a mainstream sport.

It was South Carolina’s day — but it’s now Caitlin Clark’s game.