South Carolina dared Caitlin Clark to beat them – and she did

Friday night's Final Four matchup between Iowa and SouthCarolina lived up to the hype. Honestly, I'd argue that itsurpassed it.

There were storylines aplenty in this one. Chief among them:what exactly would Iowa star Caitlin Clark look like against SouthCarolina's elite defense?

Not many teams in basketball, period, are able to turn the wateroff for opponents the way the Gamecocks can. They're stacked withlength and mobility on the perimeter, headlined by the work of BreaBeal. There's no shortage of size and ground coverage in thefrontcourt, headlined by Naismith Women's Defensive Player of theYear Aliyah Boston.

Clark would have her work cut out for her. But the same was truefor the Gamecocks.

There are players who can dictate games with their playmaking,players who can do that with shooting, players who can do that offthe bounce, and players who can do all of those things.

Then there's Clark, who can do all of those things to such aridiculous level that she can render virtually any schemeirrelevant.

With players like Clark – and historic players before her – youhave to choose a poison. Take one thing off the table and, if theybeat you in another way, you tip your cap.

For the Gamecocks, it was clear early on that they were going tomake Clark topple them. There wouldn't be aggressive doubles, norwould there be much help on the back end.

To the latter point, it's worth noting that Iowa ranked seventhin the country in three-point percentage. Aside from Clark (38.7%from three on 9.2 attempts), McKenna Warnock (38.8% on 4.4attempts), Gabbie Marshall (37.3% on 4.3 attempts) and Kate Martin(40.2% on 2.9 attempts) have all proven themselves to be knockdownshooters.