Championship Predictions

[triaddukefan]

You eating the dogs in an Iowa shirt

I'll see what I can do. They don't sell Iowa shirts here in NC

 

[GoChips20]

I thought Raven Johnson’s defense on Clark was outstanding and markedly improved from last year when she couldn’t stay with her at all.

 

[bballnut90]

I thought Raven Johnson’s defense on Clark was outstanding and markedly improved from last year when she couldn’t stay with her at all.

100%. Johnson struggled shooting but she stifled Clark when matched up on her and I thought that was a major difference maker this game. She deserves as much credit as any individual player for her efforts today.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I thought Raven Johnson’s defense on Clark was outstanding and markedly improved from last year when she couldn’t stay with her at all.

She put on a defensive masterclass and helped shift the momentum of the game back to South Carolina. Impressive stuff!!!!!!!

 

[GoChips20]

As others have stated, the anticipated major difference next year is at the center position. Watkins is easily the most mobile 5 that South Carolina has had since A’ja Wilson. Their offense should have better spacing for driving lanes next year as she won’t camp out in the paint. But for as good as Watkins is defensively, she’s not a true center and doesn’t bring the same intimidating rim-protecting size that Cardoso and Boston did. It’ll be interesting to see how SC uses freshman Tac who is coming off injury but looks to have the physical tools to be an outstanding SEC center.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Here's a likely meaningless stat that favors South Carolina. The team that beats UCONN in the Final Four is only 3-7 in title games.

1991-Virginia (lost in title game) (OT game)
1996-Tennessee (won in title game)
2001-Notre Dame (won) (shot at buzzer missed)
2008-Stanford (lost)
2011-Notre Dame (lost)
2012-Notre Dame (lost)
2017-Mississippi State (lost)
2018-Notre Dame (won) (shot at buzzer made)
2019-Notre Dame (lost) (FTs missed at end)
2021-Arizona (lost) (shot at buzzer missed)
2024-Iowa ??

Another even more meaningless stat--6 of these 10 games came down to the very last play of regulation or OT. In the last 30 years, only 2 other title games have come down to final possessions (1994 and 2006), so if there's any correlation here, we might get another classic game between South Carolina and Iowa.

I like that you took the time and effort to put the stat together.

 

[jdote33]

Probably not the most appropriate thread but I do wanna shout out Iowa as a team. There's a lot of nobody believed in us talk around March Madness time, and though everyone believed in Caitlyn, I'm not sure anyone believed in Iowa as a whole heading into the season. As a lot of great teams/championship level teams do, they really did have great role players who stepped up at every moment. Like they literally had to go through lsu, UConn, and South Carolina to win a natty. That's a heck of a path and they almost did it. I know Bluder got killed for a similar statement but it's probably 20 McDonald's All Americans vs 1. I mean that first 5 minutes of the game were crazy, I was kinda in shock, like they actually might pull it off, especially because they were playing at a showtime Lakers pace. Lol. Anyways could not be more impressed with Kate Martin. I'm sure if she wants to she can play a few seasons overseas. Gabby will be missed. I always liked her shooting but she really did open my eyes as a defender. Stuelke was a monster, really killed the Huskies and had a solid performance against SC. But they are right there with the Skylar diggins Notre Dame teams who were truly great and were back to back runner ups. I'm not sure how much love those teams get in the basketball world but they were memorable and fun.

 

[The deacon]

Probably not the most appropriate thread but I do wanna shout out Iowa as a team. There's a lot of nobody believed in us talk around March Madness time, and though everyone believed in Caitlyn, I'm not sure anyone believed in Iowa as a whole heading into the season. As a lot of great teams/championship level teams do, they really did have great role players who stepped up at every moment. Like they literally had to go through lsu, UConn, and South Carolina to win a natty. That's a heck of a path and they almost did it. I know Bluder got killed for a similar statement but it's probably 20 all McDonald's All Americans vs 1. I mean that first 5 minutes of the game were crazy, I was kinda in shock, like they actually might pull it off, especially because they were playing at a showtime Lakers pace. Lol. Anyways could not be more impressed with Kate Martin. I'm sure if she wants to she can play a few seasons overseas. Gabby will be missed. I always liked her shooting but she really did open my eyes as a defender. Stuelke was a monster, really killed the Huskies and had a solid performance against SC. But they are right there with the Skylar diggins Notre Dame teams who were truly great and were back to back runner ups. I'm not sure how much love those teams get in the basketball world but they were memorable and fun.

Yup, jdote33, I spent many a winter evening over the past four seasons watching the Hawkeyes continue to surprise disbelievers, all the while Caitlin was blowing my mind with her passing. I'll miss seeing them play, but those memories will stay with me.

By the way, as much as I admired Caitlin and grew to like her, too, Kate was my favorite Hawkeye.

Thanks for your tribute to Iowa, jdote33. I have been and always will be a Huskies fan, but this window of several seasons also following Iowa has been special for me.