On Sunday afternoon, the South Carolina Gamecocks memorialized their perfect season with a trophy that read: “NCAA 2024 Division I National Champion.” They beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, led by superstar Caitlin Clark, 87-75 to secure the third national title in South Carolina Women’s basketball history—each won under head coach Dawn Staley (2024, 2022, 2017). With their 38th win of the 2023-24 season, the Gamecocks remained undefeated and avenged their loss to the Hawkeyes in last year’s Final Four that spoiled what was, until that point, also a perfect season.
Unconquered in April, in March, and in every month prior
Just one season after losing all five of her starters—including Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, and three other players selected in that draft—Dawn Staley has led her South Carolina Gamecocks to a second consecutive undefeated regular season, a second straight Final Four appearance, and a third Women’s basketball title for the University of South Carolina. After entering the season ranked sixth in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, South Carolina has become just the 10th individual team and fifth Women’s basketball program in Division I history to finish a season undefeated.
In the 38 games they played this season, the Gamecocks outscored their opponents 3,247 to 2,149, maintaining an average point differential of 28.9 per game. The Staley-led group built those cushions shooting 49.2% from the field, all the while holding opponents to just 32.3% shooting. The Gamecocks also crashed the glass more effectively than their opponents (outrebounding them by an average of 12.6 per game) and shared the ball more efficiently than them (averaging 8.2 more assists per game). In other words, for much of the season, South Carolina dominated whichever team was on its schedule on any given day.
Despite Iowa leading South Carolina by as many as 11 points early in Sunday’s game behind Caitlin Clark’s 18 points in the first quarter, the Hawkeyes ultimately suffered the same fate. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Gamecocks had shot 47.9% from the field and held Iowa to 39.7% shooting; they had outscored Iowa 48-32 in the paint; their bench had outscored Iowa’s 37-0; they had outrebounded Iowa 51-29; and they had tallied 16 total assists to Iowa’s 13—impressive considering that Iowa led the nation this season in assists per game (20.8).
One championship, two winners…
Sunday’s national championship game was the culmination of both an extraordinary season and a pair of record-shattering Final Four games on Saturday. Both South Carolina and Iowa set program-high attendance marks and led Women’s college basketball in attendance during the 2023-24 season. South Carolina welcomed a total of 273,133 fans to Colonial Life Arena this season, averaging 16,067 per game (a 24% increase vs. 2022-23). Iowa hosted a total of 238,620 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season, averaging 14,914 per game (a 34% increase vs. 2022-23). Moreover, Iowa’s total and per-game attendance figures are non-inclusive of a preseason charity exhibition game that drew a crowd of 55,646 to Kinnick Stadium to set a new Women’s basketball attendance record.
What’s more, Iowa’s Final Four game against UConn averaged 14.4 million viewers to become the most-viewed Women’s basketball game on record, surpassing the 12.3 million viewers that tuned in to watch Iowa’s victory over LSU in the Elite Eight last Monday…which broke the previous record (9.9 million viewers) set during LSU’s win over Iowa in last year’s national championship game. South Carolina’s Final Four game against NC State averaged 7.2 million viewers, more than any Women’s Final Four game that came before it.
Considering the above, it should come as no surprise that Sunday’s national championship game set yet another viewership record: a monumental 18.7 million viewers.
Now, it is Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks that sit atop the final AP Top 25 poll of the 2023-24 NCAA Division I Women’s basketball season. With the positive rapport and proven culture of winning that Staley has established in Columbia, South Carolina, with two alumnae of her program going on to be the top picks in their WNBA draft classes (Aliyah Boston, A’ja Wilson), it feels safe to assume that South Carolina is going to be a powerhouse Women’s basketball program for years to come—one that many of the nation’s best players will want to play for.
But in reality, South Carolina is one of two winners coming out of this past weekend and season. Women’s basketball is the other.