South Carolina finishes off perfect season with NCAA championship, beating Clark, Iowa

Dawn Staley and South Carolina completed their perfect season, ending Caitlin Clark's historic college career with an 87-75 win over Iowa in the NCAA championship game Sunday in Cleveland.

With Staley directing a relentless attack from the sideline, the Gamecocks (38-0) became the 10th Division I team to go through a season without a loss. And they accomplished the feat after they lost all five starters from last season's team that lost to Clark's squad in the national semifinals.

"It doesn't always end like you want it to end, much like last year. But my freshies are at the top of my heart because they wanted this. It's awesome. .... It's awesome. It's awesome. It's unbelievable," Staley said. "When young people lock in and have a belief, and have a trust, and their parents have that same trust, this is what can happen. They made history. They etched their names in the history books."