A year after viral wave-off from Caitlin Clark, South Carolina’s Raven Johnson seeks validation

CLEVELAND — Raven Johnson took it hard.

The outcome, of course. And the fact that Caitlin Clark waved her off, considering her a long-range non-threat.

“I’ve watched (game film) over and over and over,” Johnson said Saturday as top-ranked South Carolina (37-0) readied for its rematch with No. 2 Iowa (34-4) in the championship game of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

“I’ve watched it more than 100 times. They told me to stop watching, but I can’t. If you’re not going to watch the bad stuff, why watch the good stuff?”

Sports are a zero-sum endeavor. While Iowa celebrated its shocking 77-73 upset of then-unbeaten South Carolina in last year’s semifinal, Johnson and the Gamecocks were miserable.

“I think God just wanted it to be that way,” Ashlyn Watkins said about the Gamecocks’ opportunity to turn the tables.

Tipoff is 2 p.m. (CT) Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“It’s big-woman’s basketball,” said Johnson, who has developed into a quality 3-point shooter this season at 36 percent. “That’s how I look at it.”

Led by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, the Gamecocks’ trademark is their size. But no longer can their perimeter game be dismissed. They are third nationally in 3-point percentage (.395).

“This South Carolina team poses a totally different challenge (from last year),” Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said. “Obviously it's similar in some ways, but the way their guards shoot the ball is incredible. It adds a whole other dynamic for us to be prepared for.”

Hannah Stuelke scored 23 points in the Hawkeyes’ 71-69 win over Connecticut on Friday.

And yet, South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley called the post battle “a matchup we’ve got to win.

“We have four or five legitimate posts that (Stuelke) has to guard, and they’re all different.”

Watkins added, “They don’t have a lot of post players like we do. We have to take advantage of that.”

One of the national narratives is whether Clark needs to win a championship to be considered one of the all-time greats.

Staley weighed in:

“I was really good (as a player at Virginia), but I never won a championship. I had a great career, I went to three Final Fours, but I never won.”

“If Caitlin wins the championship, she's pretty damn good, yeah, like, she's a GOAT. I mean, she's really damn good regardless. But winning the championship would seal the deal.

“I hope to the dear Lord she doesn't.”

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You may be nervous about Iowa-South Carolina title game. The Hawkeyes? Not so much.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com