NCAAWBB tournament recap

South Carolina

The Gamecocks capitalized on an undefeated season going 38-0 and securing their school’s third national championship.

They become the 10th Division I program to successfully have an undefeated season.

The No.1 South Carolina team beat the No. 1 Iowa team 87-75 in the National Championship game on Sunday, April 7, 2024.

Center Kamilla Cardoso scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Her 6’7” stature was too much for the Hawkeyes to defend.

The key to the Gamecocks success, especially in the tournament, is their bench depth. They lost all five starters from last season and came into this season with some uncertainties about how deep their run could go.

This game included a dominating bench performance by the Gamecocks whose bench outscored the Hawkeyes, 37-0.

In the final game, the Gamecocks outrebounded the Hawkeyes, 51-29, creating 30 second chance points.

Dawn Staley built a dynasty in Columbia and the Gamecocks remain the best team in women’s NCAA basketball.

Iowa

Iowa lost in the National Championship game to South Carolina.

The Hawkeyes battled in this game, leading by as much as 11 points in the first quarter. They pulled within five points in the fourth quarter, but that was the closest they got before time ran out.

Caitlin Clark finished her collegiate career with a game-high 30 points.

Clark has changed the women’s game, raising awareness and media coverage to it. Every game she played in this tournament grew in viewership by millions.

Molly Davis, Iowa senior, was subbed in by Lisa Bluder in the last 20 seconds of the national championship game.

Davis suffered an injury on March 4 against Ohio State and missed all of the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness.

This was a classy move by Bluder who checked out fellow seniors Clark, Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin during this substitution.

UConn

The Huskies finished their season in the Final Four losing 71-69 against Iowa on an illegal screen set by Aaliyah Edwards.

Paige Bueckers experienced a bounce-back season returning from injury. She spoke following the loss of how one play never makes or breaks a game.

She struggled in the Huskies’ final game going 7-of-17 from the field, recording just 17 points after averaging 28 in the previous four tournament games.

Looking ahead to next season, Bueckers hopes to win a national championship in her final season with the Huskies.

Tournament Reach

The National Championship Game on Sunday, April 7, 2024, received an audience of 18.9 million. The stream peaked at approximately 24.1 million viewers, with official data still being calculated.

This record broke one set less than 72 hours prior when Iowa’s Final Four Victory over UConn received 14.2 million viewers and peaked at 17 million.

Tournament views are up 89% from last year’s Iowa vs. LSU National Championship.

This is the biggest draw on ESPN since 2019 aside from football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

Julia Henry is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her please email jbh6443@psu.edu.