The South Carolina Gamecocks have pulled off the impossible by winning the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament without losing a single game. But according to head coach Dawn Staley, women playing sport were always held back from moving forward and doing more.
Just recently, the Gamecocks got the big 87-75 win over a Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes team in the final round. Tessa Johnson came up big for her team from the bench by dropping 19 points by hitting 63 percent of his shots from the field. Kamilla Cardoso led all South Carolina starters by making 15 points and 17 rebounds. Meanwhile, Te-Hina Paopao added 14 points to help her team go home with the dub.
The Hawkeyes had Caitlin Clark, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, post 30 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Kate Martin contributed 16 points and five rebounds, while Sydney Affolter had 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Unfortunately, Iowa’s bench didn’t score a single point, which became one of the factors why they lost. Nevertheless, women’s basketball has never been more popular, thanks to Clark’s popularity and South Carolina’s dominant run this season.
South Carolina Gamecocks Coach Dawn Staley Revealed How Women’s Basketball Was Held Back Intentionally
Before the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game between the UConn Huskies and the Zach Edey-led Purdue Boilermakers started, Staley appeared on TBS to talk about how the sport has progressed. In an article written by Griffin McVeigh for on3.com:
“I think women’s basketball was being held back intentionally,” Staley said on TBS ahead of Monday night’s men’s national championship. “For one reason or the other. We are bursting at the seams with talent. Young talent, great coaching, great players. People want access to our game,” McVeigh wrote.
“I’ve watched more women’s basketball games this year than any other year,” Staley said. “This is my 24th year coaching, I had access. I picked and chose what network, what streaming device. And sometimes, I had two and three devices in front of me because I wanted to tune into a lot of games.”
Getting the kind of coverage Staley did during the recent NCAA Women’s Basketball season wouldn’t have been possible a couple of years ago. With Clark transcending the sport and South Carolina putting up an undefeated streak, the rise in popularity was bound to happen.
It remains to be seen whether women’s basketball will move forward in the coming months, especially after Caitlin is slated to enter the WNBA. What’s certain, though, is that the sport has never been more popular like it is today.
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