NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2024: Top Storylines for Championship Game

The best team in women's college basketball faces off with the best individual player in the game in Sunday's NCAA women's basketball tournament championship game.

The undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks square off with Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in Cleveland in a rematch of last year's Final Four clash.

Clark and Iowa captured last year's meeting, but they fell short in the national title game against Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers.

Iowa is looking to end the Clark era with the perfect finish. Clark will likely post another high point total in the quest for the title .

South Carolina is the favorite in the matchup because of its undefeated mark. The Gamecocks are one win away from becoming the 10th women's college basketball team to pull off a perfect season.

Storybook endings do not get much better than what Clark can achieve on Sunday.

Clark broke every scoring record in men's and women's college basketball and has been the star of the sport for the last two seasons.

The national championship eluded the superstar and her teammates last season after they beat South Carolina.

Iowa already avenged its national title loss to LSU in the Elite Eight and then Clark led the Hawkeyes to a win over Paige Bueckers and the Connecticut Huskies on Friday in the Final Four.

Clark scored at least 30 points in each of her last four games and needed 41 points to help defeat South Carolina last season.

Iowa needs another masterful performance out of the superstar on Sunday to prevent the Gamecocks from taking over with their matchup advantage.

South Carolina's height will control the paint, so Iowa must be near perfect on the perimeter, and that starts with Clark.

South Carolina has been the best team all season in women's college basketball.

The undefeated Gamecocks have a storybook ending of their own in front of them because they can avenge last year's loss to Iowa to finish the perfect season.

Dawn Staley's team produced four double-digit wins, including a 19-point win over the NC State Wolfpack on Friday, to reach the national championship.

The Gamecocks can control the matchup with Iowa through the paint. They have four players who average over five rebounds per game.

South Carolina won the board battle by 14 against NC State and the Oregon State Beavers in the last two rounds.

A year ago, the Gamecocks recorded 24 more rebounds than the Hawkeyes, but lost by six because the Hawkeyes shot 10 percent better from the field.

South Carolina must make its difference in the paint matter. That starts with Kamilla Cardoso, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds on Friday in her best game of the tournament.

Cardoso would be the driving force of a victory on Sunday, and if that happens, South Carolina finishes as the first undefeated team since UConn in 2016. The Gamecocks would be the fourth program to ever record a perfect record. All of them belong to UConn, Tennessee or Baylor.