The day before the South Carolina Gamecocks met the Iowa Hawkeyes for the women’s NCAA national basketball championship, Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley suggested Iowa star Caitlin Clark needed to win a national championship to be considered among the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball.

“She’s pretty damn good regardless,” Ms. Staley said on Saturday during a pre-game press conference. “But winning a championship will seal the deal. I hope to the dear Lord she doesn’t.”

Ms. Clark didn’t. The Gamecocks capped n historic unbeaten season with an 87-75 victory over Ms. Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse at Cleveland. South Carolina (38-0) enjoyed a huge edge in rebounds (51-29) and used its depth to beat the Hawkeyes (34-5), who lost in the championship game for the second straight year.

South Carolina becomes the 10th women’s team in Division I to finish the year unbeaten and the first since 2016. The Gamecocks also avenged a stinging loss to the Hawkeyes in last year’s national semifinals, their only loss over the past two seasons. “If you saw the work we put in, we deserve this,” said South Carolina guard Raven Johnson, who had called the Gamecocks’ march through the tournament, “The Revenge Tour.”

Moments after winning a third national championship and the second in three seasons, Ms. Staley clarified her opinion of Ms. Clark to a television audience. She further elaborated in her post-game press conference. “Caitlin Clark, you are one of the GOATs of our game and we appreciate you,” Ms. Staley said on the podium when accepting the championship trophy, using an acronym for “Greatest of All-Time.”  

Later Ms. Staley added that “Getting a lot of eyeballs on our game, sometimes as a young person it can be a bit much. But I thought she handled it with class. I hope that with every step of the ladder of success that she’s able to elevate every room she’s in.”

Ms. Clark, who was playing in her final collegiate game, scored 30 points. She shot 10 of 28 from the field, including five of 13 from three-point range. It was her hot shooting that got the Hawkeyes off to an early 20-9 lead that they couldn’t hold. Ms. Clark also led her teams with eight rebounds and five assists.

The Hawkeyes couldn’t overcome the overall pressure and depth of the Gamecocks, who had nine players on the court for at least 10 minutes, compared to six for the Hawkeyes. The South Carolina bench was especially dominant, outscoring Iowa’s reserves 37-0. “Having those fresh legs on Caitlin was really tough,” Iowa coach Lisa Bulder said.

A six-foot seven-inch senior from Brazil, Kamilla Cardoso, led South Carolina with 15 points and 17 rebounds, while another titan,Tessa Johnson, had 19 points off the bench. “It’s a heavy load to be undefeated and finish the job,” said Ms. Staley, who was decorated as a player and becomes the fifth coach to win at least three national titles.

The championship game figures to set an all-time viewership record for women’s basketball. Iowa’s semifinal matchup against UConn on Friday drew 14.2 million viewers on ESPN to become the network’s largest audience for a basketball game, college or professional. It was the second best non-football telecast ever for ESPN, topping the viewership record set days earlier when Iowa defeated LSU in the Elite Eight. The rematch of last year’s championship game drew 12.3 million viewers.

Social media and the ability to gamble on women’s basketball has generated interest, but the attention focused on Ms. Caitlan and other rising stars in the women’s collegiate game has been unprecedented. 

Ms. Bulder explains that the departing star has “raised the excitement of our sport because she does things in a different way that nobody else can do. Plus she has all the intangibles. She’s a great student. She’s a great role model. She loves being that role model.”

In defeat, Ms. Clark was able to look at the big picture of his career, which is just underway. She is expected to be the No.1 pick by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA draft on April 15. She will begin playing for the Fever in five weeks.

“The emotion will probably hit me over the next couple of days,” Ms. Clark said. “I don’t have much time to sit around and sulk and be upset. I don’t think that’s what I’m about either. Yeah, I’m sad we lost. But I’m so proud of myself; I’m so proud of my teammates and I’m so proud of this program. There’s a lot of to be proud of because nobody but me and Coach Bulder thought this was possible.”