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The 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament wraps up Sunday at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Only 53 entries in USA TODAY’s Women’s NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool contest remain out of the 3,754 who signed up.
The tournament favorite South Carolina Gamecocks (37-0) meet the Iowa Hawkeyes (34-4) for all the marbles in the Women’s NCAA Tournament Championship Game Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN).
On Friday, No. 1 overall seed South Carolina took care of NC State 78-59 with C Kamilla Cardoso going for 22 points with 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The superstar center was a very efficient 10-for-12 from the field, and she was one of three South Carolina players to go for double-digit points.
Gamecocks G Raven Johnson added 13 points, with most of her damage coming on 3 triples, while G Te-Hina Paopao was good for 10 points, 6 assists and a steal, while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.
South Carolina shot 50.0% (30-for-60) from the field, including 42.1% (8-for-19) from behind the 3-point line. It managed to get to the free-throw line just 4 times, but it converted 4 shots.
Iowa advanced to the title game for the 2nd consecutive season, easing by UConn 71-69. With 10 seconds to go, the Huskies trailed 70-69 and had the ball, but a controversial offensive foul on F Aaliyah Edwards against G Gabbie Marshall gave the Hawkeyes the ball back with 3.9 seconds to go. G Caitlin Clark was fouled with 3.5 seconds left, hit the 1st free throw and missed the 2nd, but G Sydney Affolter came down with the offensive board and Iowa hung on for the 2-point win.
The Hawkeyes were just 45.8% (27-for-59) from the floor, while going 28.0% (7-for-25) from behind the 3-point line and 71.4% (10-for-14) from the charity stripe. Clark didn’t have her best game but finished with 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, while going 3-for-11 from downtown. F Hannah Stuelke actually led the Hawkeyes with a game-high 23 points on an efficient 9-of-12 shooting performance.
South Carolina is No. 1 and Iowa is No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
As for the USA TODAY’s Women’s NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool contest, I had 3 correct picks in the opening round for 12 points but stumbled in the 2nd round and was eliminated when 4th-seeded Kansas State lost to 5th-seeded Colorado. Another 4-seed, Indiana, won for me that round, but the KSU pick did me in.
Despite the loss, I still offered picks in an attempt to help you in your chase for the $2.5K 1st-place prize. Only having to make 1 pick the remaining rounds, rebounded with LSU (3 points) in the Sweet 16 upsetting UCLA in a 78-69 thriller. In the Elite 8, I won with UConn (3 points) against USC. And I won with Iowa (1 point) in the Friday’s semifinal.
As an employee, I wasn’t eligible to win this contest, but there was no rule against me helping you.
A rules reminder: Remaining entries are required to pick the National Championship Game winner — if you still have an eligible team to select.
Points are earned equal to your winning teams’ seeds.
Here is my strategy of which team to pick for Sunday’s championship.
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National Championship Game pick
PICK: SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
I intentionally held off from selecting South Carolina in the earlier rounds in the event it managed to avoid the upset and get to the title game. The strategy worked — excluding my darn K-State pick in the 2nd round.
After selecting Iowa in the Final Four, I didn’t have any other choice for the this round anyway.
Clark and the Hawkeyes are back in the National Championship Game for the 2nd consecutive season.
Unfortunately for them, coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks are on a mission, will finish 38-0 and grab the title as Iowa will once again be the bridesmaid — the Hawkeyes lost to LSU in last year’s title game.
Stream select live college basketball games and full replays: Get ESPN+
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