18 points in 1st Quarter
Iowa 7.5 dogs

Iowa got off to a 10-0 lead, SC has tied it up at 34 with 20 bench points.

It is such a slaughter on the boards that I don't see how Iowa can overcome. I played many a CYO game as a kid when the other team had a 6'3 center. Same thing going on here.

Truly great basketball game, South Carolina got the size and depth, but Iowa got the spacing and the star. Styles make fights.

— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) April 7, 2024

Terrible sequence of events at the end of the first half for Iowa but they're keeping it close. The WNBA commentators on the ESPN broadcast need to be tuned out.

The rebound differential is causing a growing shot volume differential….and a growing points in the paint differential. Looks hopeless to me.

Refs are also allowing very physical D on Caitlin.

Cardoso is a gentle woman. She could be banging people around much more than she is.

Caitlin Clark is a wonderful player, but the horrible call that "may" have gotten them here leaves me with suspicion of who would have won that game. So go Gamecocks. But nothing but respect for CC's game. Media seems to have strong desires that are made known as far as I am concerned.

Whoops, let me take that all back. Just read Dawn Staley is all for trans women to play in women's sports. "Yes, Yes" she said to the question. 100% against. Save women's sports. Go Hawkeyes

And before those who passionately disagree, we have had two college women's soccer players plus a women's mountain bide racer in our family. It is not hate; it is fairness. Create something new for those who are trans. No problem at all with participation.

Tried to watch. Just too sloppy and clunky of a game. Odd that the men's games seem so much smoother and graceful. Much prefer women's lacrosse and tennis to men's, but for hoops, soccer and baseball/softball, the men's game just looks cleaner and more natural to me. Men's softball looks clunky, too. Maybe it's the balls.

In South Carolina there are many tall pines
I remember the oak tree that we used to climb
But now when I'm lonesome, I always pretend
That I'm getting the feel of hickory wind
-Gram Parsons

The team talent differential is brutal.

SC bench points 37, Iowa bench points 0.

The differential in Rebounds, Points from the bench (37-0) and minutes played (3 Iowa players played 40 minutes) is horrific.

Lisa Bluder on Caitlin Clark: "I really think that when she came in as a freshman, she said, we're going to the Final Four. And a lot of people laughed at her. Maybe even laughed at her for coming to Iowa, quite honestly. But she believed. We believed. And she got everyone else… pic.twitter.com/JdxqrlciBS

— Tyler Tachman (@Tyler_T15) April 7, 2024

Got to ask Caitlin Clark her final media question as a Hawkeye: How did you hold it all together and bring it every night, all the way to scoring 18 points in the first quarter of the national championship game?

Her final answer as a Hawk:

“Oh, gosh. I don’t know. I don’t get…

— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) April 7, 2024

^ Cool that Chad Leistikow will have something like this to pad his obituary, down the road! ^

bearister said:

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The differential in Rebounds, Points from the bench (37-0) and minutes played (3 Iowa players played 40 minutes) is horrific.

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South Carolina also had 17 rebounds from their bench players. They got exactly one-third of their rebounds and more than one-third of their points from their bench, while also giving the bench players more than one-third of the total minutes played. Incredible use of roster depth in a national title game.

'24 #NCAAWBB Natl. Championship ended the season with a bang on ABC & ESPN

🏀18.7M viewers, peak 24M
🏀Up 89% from '23 & 285% from '22
🏀Most-watched basketball game (men's or women's, college or pro) since '19
🏀Most-watched sporting event since '19 (excl. football & Olympics) pic.twitter.com/0a4uwiOwgp

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 8, 2024

Regular season data. Caitlin is the green dot.

bear2034 said:

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Regular season data. Caitlin is the green dot.

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Wish I was smart enough to figure out how many standard deviations that is from the mean. Don't even know if you can calculate that for two variables at once.