Caitlin Clark has 41 as Iowa ends South Carolina's perfect season

DALLAS — All season, it felt as if South Carolina was headed for an impending coronation. The Gamecocks dominated opponents with such ease, it seemed hard to envision how they would lose.

Not a team with this much size, depth, physicality and rebounding prowess. Not a team with Aliyah Boston, the projected No. 1 player in the upcoming WNBA draft. Not a team with Dawn Staley on the sideline, the coach who has made South Carolina the new standard bearer.

Even headed into its Final Four matchup against Iowa and Player of the Year Caitlin Clark on Friday night, it felt so simple to say South Carolina would physically wear down the high-flying Hawkeyes and the most electrifying player in college basketball.

Then the game started, and the most infallible team in the country looked… fallible. Clark pushed the pace, driving into the lane untouched, making beautiful touch passes inside that her teammates easily dropped in the basket. She was the unquestioned star on the court, and South Carolina seemed helpless to keep up.

Even as the Gamecocks made runs to challenge Iowa, the Hawkeyes never seemed to lose their grip on the game. Boston played most of it in foul trouble, and Clark took center stage, dazzling with every move, her smooth shot moving the Hawkeyes closer and closer to the improbable.

When it was over, Iowa beat South Carolina 77-73, pulling off the biggest upset in the Final Four since 2017, when No. 1 UConn lost in overtime in the national semifinals to Mississippi State, snapping a 111-game winning streak. The team that beat Mississippi State to win the first national title in program history?

South Carolina.

The Hawkeyes will play LSU for the championship.

There would be no repeating as national champions for the