DALLAS — It’s sports, so the numbers will matter.
They can be celebrated by winners and help tell the story. They can haunt the losing side, but they’ll still provide context. Numbers from Friday night’s Final Four matchup between No. 2 seed Iowa and No. 1 seed South Carolina are significant. Like 77-73 — the score that, because it was in favor of Iowa, shocked many. Like 41 — the number of points Caitlin Clark scored. Or 49 — the number of rebounds the Gamecocks grabbed, even with their All-America post Aliyah Boston on the bench through much of the first half with two fouls. Or 20 — the numbers of fouls called on South Carolina, some of which (should or should not have) been whistles, depending on whom you ask. Or 19,288 — the sellout crowd at American Airlines Arena for the Final Four games.
But the number will matter most years from now will be the one that can’t be dissected by coaches in film study or broken down from a box score. When the television viewership numbers are released, they’ll shatter records. Even as it was unknown Friday night exactly how many televisions were tuning in, we can say with near certainty that the Iowa-South Carolina Final Four will be the highest-viewed women’s basketball game of all time.
It was a good game because of the build-up and debate, but it was a great game because it actually lived up to the hype as the field of four women’s college basketball teams whittled down to two in Dallas.
It was billed as Caitlin Clark versus Aliyah Boston, the current national player of the year against the former national player of the year. But the anticipation for this game revolved around so much more. An offense led by a generational scorer against one of the greatest team defenses in women’s college basketball history, a defense so good that South Carolina coach Dawn Staley could roll out five different matchups on Clark in an attempt to slow an unstoppable player. The game delivered.
“I think tonight showed how fun women’s basketball is,” Clark said. “Two really great teams that went at it. I’m sure so many people wish this was a series of seven. That would be really, really fun.”
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Both Iowa and South Carolina have had their starting cores together for the last three seasons, building the kind of continuity that’s nearly impossible to come by and which made these matchups that much better, even tighter chess matches. There were not going to be any surprises or change-ups that either team hadn’t seen or considered or scouted. Monika Czinano wasn’t going to suddenly become a high-volume dribbler, and Boston wasn’t going to step out to the 3-point line to start launching shots.
Of course, for Staley, there will be other numbers that stick out. Three turnovers the Gamecocks had late that, had they not happened, might’ve allowed the game to go differently. Three turnovers that, had it been two or one or zero, maybe could’ve been the difference between South Carolina turning the tide versus digging a hole from which they couldn’t climb. That might’ve meant that Staley wouldn’t yet be answering questions about next season because there would still be some of this season left. It might’ve meant she’d still be thinking about chasing perfection, a 38-0 season instead of finishing 36-1.
But for fans of the game, this was simply a display of excellent basketball players executing at the highest level for two Hall of Fame coaches. And that gave all 19,288 in the arena and the millions at home one hell of a show.
“I hope they saw some individual performances that will bring them back. I hope they saw the grittiness of a team that was undefeated, and I hope they want to learn a lot more about, not just us but LSU and what Kim Mulkey has done this season and getting to a national championship game. … Virginia Tech and Kenny Brooks and his first time being in the Final Four. And then just the entire tournament,” Staley said. “We didn’t have all No. 1 seeds here, and I hope they ask why. And they’ll find out we had some incredible, exciting games that led to not every No. 1 seed being here.”
On Sunday, for just the third time in history, the women’s national championship will not have any No. 1 seeds. It won’t feature the team that seemed destined to be there (South Carolina) or the team that has seemingly always been there (UConn). It won’t feature the sport’s winningest coach (Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer) or other perennial powers.
Instead, on Sunday, one of the last two teams standing will win its first national title.
Iowa and LSU are flashy in different ways. The Hawkeyes have The Caitlin Clark Show, but the Tigers have The Show. Slice it any way you’d like, and it’s still good for women’s basketball. When nearly 20,000 fill the seats to watch LSU’s Angel Reese and Clark in Sunday’s title game, and millions other tune in to see what Kim Mulkey might wear, they’ll be counted for showing up there for 40 minutes of basketball.
The statistics of this season will fall to the wayside as every team returns to a 0-0 record. The ratings from Friday’s Iowa-South Carolina contest will illustrate the exponential growth of women’s basketball and the growing national demand for it. But the game also will be remembered as having countless benefits for the sport.
(Top photo: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)
