By Susan Harman

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Iowa isn’t just facing the No. 1 team in the country, it is facing a group bent on revenge. The Hawkeyes knocked the Gamecocks out of last year’s tournament in the semifinals. Just as this year South Carolina was unbeaten and top ranked. It was also the defending national champion.

Losing that game hurt. A lot. And on Saturday players weren’t reluctant to talk about the feeling it left with them. Sophomore guard Raven Johnson took it so hard that she considered quitting the game. She said she’s watched the game as many as 100 times.

“She’s a great point guard; she’s fearless,” sophomore forward Ashlyn Watkins said. “And to see her in that position I was just heartbroken because I knew she was better than that. She could shoot the basketball, and she worked her butt off all summer offseason to show she can shoot.”

In that game, Johnson came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 3-pointers, so her funk had nothing to do with her own performance. But there’s a film clip that has turned into a meme showing Clark camped in the lane and waving off Johnson as if to say “we’re not coming out to guard you.”

After last year’s game South Carolina coach Dawn Staley made it a point to say that “Raven is our future. She’s got some instincts as a point guard. So when she’s able to keep those instincts the way they are but also just be a little bit more patient about seeing other options, she’s going to be a terrific point guard.”

And this year she assumed that leadership position after all the starters graduated.

“I think Raven’s had a tremendous year,” Clark said. “I think not only from a shooting perspective, but as the point guard of a team, as the guard of a team, she’s been a true leader. She’s led that team. I think she’s shooting over 50 percent her last five games, has shot it over 40 percent all year. That just speaks to her work ethic. She got in the gym and got better, and I admire that.”

Staley said she has not watched last year’s game, but clearly her players remember.

“The story has always been that this is our revenge tour, and I think this is just the perfect story right?”

junior guard Bree Hall said. “It falls right into place of what we want. So I think it will be a really good game and a good opportunity for us.”

Iowa packed in its defense against a South Carolina team that leaned heavily on its posts.  Iowa took the gamble that the guards couldn’t shoot the Hawkeyes out of the zone, and it paid off.

“Immediately after that (semifinal game), I think two days later, I texted coach and was like ‘we need some shooting guns,’” Hall said. “We need to get more shots up. Like I was just super big that we needed to get to work on our 3-point percentage because I mean nobody wants to lose the way that we did last year.

“And it was really hard because you know our 3-point shooting wasn’t the best. We were just big on inside play. So immediately after the game I text her ‘we need to work on our shooting like right now.’”

This version of the Gamecocks took that that to heart. Five players are averaging at least 34 percent behind the line, including Te-Hina Paopao (.463), reserve Tessa Johnson (.425), Hall (387), Raven Johnson (.352) and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley (.344).

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Quickness, Size, Defense.  South Carolina’s defense has been its calling card ever since Staley took over as coach, and this team is a great example.

I think when you come to South Carolina you have to understand that Coach wants you for your defense,” Hall said. “So if you are here you know that your defensive abilities are really good. And naturally that means from out of high school you’ve been keyed in on defense. So I think it’s just really been big just all of our lives. If you’re here you know how to play defense, and you really are locked in.”

South Carolina holds teams to an average of 56 points per game and 32 percent shooting. Raven Johnson was asked to describe what perimeter defense the Gamecocks would use against Clark and her mates.

“I can’t say too much, but the game plan is to win,” she said.

Paopao said none of South Carolina’s defenders is out on an island.

“Our team is about team defense, and just being able to have a 6-7 post player (Kamilla Cardoso) block everything that comes her way is an amazing feeling,” she said.