Clark takes Iowa back to the championship game. There will also be South Carolina, who is unbeaten.

Iowa and Caitlin Clark are back in the Final Four. South Carolina is unbeaten, and so is Dawn Staley.

Cleveland will host the national semifinals on Friday and the championship game two days later, drawing in a large audience from the women’s basketball globe.

Clark scored 41 points to lead her team over LSU, the defending champion, 94-87 on Monday night, ensuring her club’s second straight trip to the Final Four. In the previous year’s championship game, the Tigers defeated the Hawkeyes. With two more victories, the Hawkeyes will have won their first national title.

That’s undoubtedly our objective. We want to be there,” Clark remarked. However, you must triumph one at a time. Two more are still available to be obtained. That’s the funniest thing about the Final Four. It is attainable for all. Anyone can take the win.

UConn, which eliminated Iowa from the tournament during Clark’s rookie year, will be Iowa’s next opponent. Monday night’s other regional final saw the Huskies defeat Southern California 80-73.

North Carolina State, which is participating in its first Final Four since 1998, will be the opponent for Staley’s squad.

Staley doesn’t mind that Clark will be the center of attention because it means that her undefeated squad will be somewhat underappreciated. South Carolina has progressed to the Final Four without losing for the second year in a row, and the team has done so at least this far for the fourth straight year.

This season, the majority of conversation has centered on prominent athletes from throughout the nation, like Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, JuJu Watkins of USC, Paige Bueckers of UConn, and Clark.

The Gamecocks aren’t centered on a single player, as evidenced by their all-new starting five this season. They are no longer the center of attention.

“I enjoy it. I genuinely do. Like, feel free to grab the spotlight and move it to another location,” Staley remarked. “Permit this group to flourish in the allocated area. At the end of the day, hopefully this coming week, I hope we give a lot of people a lot to discuss.

Similar to South Carolina, not many people predicted the Wolfpack to go to the Final Four. N.C. State entered the season unranked, becoming the first team since Washington in 2016 to make it to the Final Four without being ranked in the preseason poll. Prior to December, victories over UConn and Colorado provided evidence that the Wolfpack were a formidable squad.

Two years ago, N.C. State was one victory away from competing in the national semifinals before falling to UConn in the Elite Eight after double overtime.

Wolfpack coach Wes Moore remarked, “I think of Kay Yow—34 years at N.C. State and took this program to a Final Four in ’98.” “I consider the athletes from two years ago who were one double-overtime game away from securing this precise position. I consider them as a result. and then I envision these athletes, once more, overcoming all uncertainties and concerns and simply—final four, you guys.”

Moore is aware that the Gamecocks will be a difficult opponent for his team.

They make an incredible team. The nation’s best team, without a doubt. It’s not a four-out-of-seven series, though. You’re just having fun, right? ” It will be quite difficult, but all we need to do is discover a way to defeat them in one game.

After losing to Ohio State in the previous season, which ended UConn’s 14-year streak, the team is back in the Final Four. The Huskies now need to devise a strategy to contain Clark, who has been almost unstoppable over the past two years.

2024 NCAA Iowa Hawkeyes Women’s Basketball Tournament March Madness Final Four Black Ceramic Mug