Tessa Johnson and Milaysia Fulwilley came off the bench to light a fire under the Gamecocks in the second half.
Champions do what champions do. In an epic second half performance, South Carolina completed an undefeated season by winning the NCAA National Championship, 87-75 for their second national title in three seasons. The only loss the Gamecocks had in the last two seasons was a loss to the Hawkeyes in the 2023 NCAA semi-finals.
Tessa Johnson and Milaysia Fulwilley came off the bench to light a fire under the Gamecocks in the second half. South Carolina’s domination on the boards along with tenacious pressure on Iowa’s shooters caused multiple misses. Johnson scored a career high 19 points. At one point, South Carolina’s bench outscored Iowa’s, 36-0.
South Carolina’s length and unselfishness proved to be the deciding factor, as they blocked numerous attempts from Caitlin Clark to thread the needle to Hannah Stuelke for layups. It seemed Iowa had no answer to the mid-range and long-range jumpers Carolina kept draining. Kamilla Cardosa’s presence in the lane seemed to initimidate the Hawkeyes as they tried to dribble penetrate to the hoop.
