Iowa Women's Basketball set to face South Carolina in the Final Four
Sunday evening, the Iowa Women’s Basketball team defeated the 5 seed Louisville 97-83 to punch their ticket to the Final Four in Dallas, Texas. It is the program’s second Final Four appearance and their first since 1993. The Hawkeyes will face the 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday, with a spot in the National Title Game on the line. Iowa is 0-1 all-time in the Final Four and 6-5 all-time against SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina defeated 2 seed Maryland 86-75 in their Elite Eight matchup to move on to face Iowa. C Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks with 22 points and ten rebounds. Guards Brea Beal and Zia Cooke combined for 34 points on 12/28 shooting and also pulled down 15 rebounds. South Carolina outrebounded Maryland 48-26 and dominated the offensive glass 25-7. Five players pulled down at least three offensive rebounds.
Taking a quick look at the Gamecocks, they own an undefeated 36-0 record. They won both the SEC regular season and tournament title. They have a 17-0 record against Quad 1 opponents and an 11-0 record against the NET Top 25. South Carolina went 14-0 against NCAA Tournament participants during the regular season. The Gamecocks defeated 16 seed Norfolk State, 8 seed South Florida, 4 seed UCLA and 2 seed Maryland on their way to Dallas.
The Gamecocks offense ranks 7th in the country in scoring offense (80.5 ppg), while their defense is ranked 2nd (51.1 ppg). The offense is led by First Team All-SEC guard Zia Cooke, who averages 15.1 points per game. She is also the teams leading three-point shooter. In the post, the have the top duo in the nation. SEC Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston averages 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, while SEC 6th Player of the Year Kamilla Cardoso averages 9.7 points and 8.4 rebounds.
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This will be the second all-time meeting between Iowa and South Carolina. The Gamecocks won the only meeting back in 1989. South Carolina has an all-time record of 44-16 in the NCAA Tournament, including a 2-2 mark in the Final Four. The Gamecocks are 2-1 against Big Ten teams in the NCAA Tournament.
The Hawkeyes and Gamecocks will face off on Friday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Tipoff is set for 8:30pm CT and the game will be televised on ESPN.
