National Championship Preview: Iowa WBB vs. 1-Seed South Carolina

[BraydonRoberts5]

WHO: 1-seed South Carolina Gamecocks (37-0 overall, 16-0 SEC)
WHEN: 2:00 p.m. CT (Sunday, April 7)
WHERE: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)
TV: ABC
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
MOBILE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN

Caitlin vs. The Machine​

For years Lionel Messi was considered one of the best soccer players in the world and an all-time great. In discussions of who was the Greatest of All Time, though, critics dinged Messi for never winning the World Cup with Argentina. Sound familiar?

Messi and his Argentina team got two opportunities to win that elusive World Cup. The first came in 2014 against Germany in a game billed as Messi vs. The Machine. The matchup earned that moniker because the German team had several great players, but lacked a single clear star. The collective excellence of Germany trumped Messi's singular brilliance and the Germans earned a 1-0 victory.

In 2022 Messi and Argentina earned another shot at World Cup glory and faced another superteam in France in the final. The French had won the World Cup in 2018, and looked poised to do so again. Messi and the Argentinians had other ideas, going blow for blow with France in regular and extra time, then winning the World Cup in a penalty shootout. Messi finally had the one major trophy that had been missing from his G.O.A.T. resume.

South Carolina is very similar to those German and French superteams. In 2022, the Gamecocks went 36-2 and won the national title. Last year, they were undefeated until the Final Four when Iowa took them down 77-73 in one of the most stunning upsets in Final Four history. Now South Carolina is undefeated again and on the precipice of another title. Only Clark and the Hawkeyes stand in their way.

More here: https://iowa.rivals.com/news/national-championship-preview-iowa-wbb-vs-1-seed-south-carolina

 

[2D_]

Re-watching the replay from last year, SC kept it close the entire time. They never went away, they never faded. I suspect it will be the exact same situation this year. They're definitely going to attack the paint with how big they are. Hannah and O'Grady are going to have to play their hearts out. But most importantly, CC will have to be hot tomorrow. She's the X factor in this game, as she usually is. But this time, it's more important than ever

SC's size scares me, but I have faith that CC and Co will leave everything out on the court with this one.

 

[desihawk]

with the short turn around and sc’s relatively comfortable win in the semis, wonder if iowa might want to play slower than it would normally prefer? how many players in sc’s rotation?