South Carolina, Caitlin Clark, and the ongoing rise of women’s sports

Before South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley won her third national title on Sunday afternoon, and before Iowa’s Caitlin Clark took women’s college basketball by storm, there was a cultural shift in how the world viewed female athletes. The best way to describe that change in perception could be found in a four-word phrase on various types of apparel: “Everyone watches women’s sports.”

I attended one of South Carolina’s 38 wins that constituted its undefeated campaign – the 10th in the sport’s history. It was perhaps the most stressful of the lot and came down to the final shot – a stunning three-pointer by Kamilla Cardoso at the buzzer. The exultation reminded me of some of my favorite moments in women’s sports.

Last year’s Final Four matchups between Iowa and South Carolina, and between Louisiana State University and Virginia Tech were a commercial revelation that put the sport on the map. This year’s Final Four matchups were the sequel that delivered beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, including a women’s viewership record of 18.7 million for the championship game. This came days after Iowa’s matchup with traditional power University of Connecticut had set its own record (most-watched ESPN basketball game of any kind) with 14.2 million viewers.

The Iowa-South Carolina matchup wasn’t just a rematch but also an opportunity for redemption. At the center of the game were the sports’ two biggest figures – Ms. Staley and Ms. Clark. It seems inadequate now to ask who’s the epicenter, the “GOAT” or greatest of all time. Ms. Staley won and did the familiar – uplift the game and its participants.

“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport, and it just is not going to stop here on the collegiate tour, but when she is the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, she’s going to lift that league up as well,” Ms. Staley said. “So Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game. We appreciate you.”

The Lady Gamecocks’ mode of operation? Leading with love. It’s why their journey back to the Final Four was a redemption tour and not a revenge-filled run after last year’s loss to Iowa. Sophomore guard Raven Johnson, who was famously waved off by Ms. Clark the year before, was one of Sunday’s heroes for her defense on the Iowa star. First-year players such as MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson sparked the team in the final game, clearly motivated to win it for the “freshies” – the acclaimed 2019 freshman class led by former Lady Gamecock Aliyah Boston that took the program to untold heights before graduating last year.

Where does the game go from here? The seasonlong celebration around Ms. Clark is a guide. When Ms. Clark broke the Division I scoring record in Iowa’s season finale against Ohio State, casual observers learned about the exploits of players such as Lynette Woodard and Pearl Moore. Ms. Woodard, who formerly held the all-time Division I women’s scoring record, was a gold medal-winning Olympian and the first female Harlem Globetrotter. Ms. Moore, a native South Carolinian, scored more than 4,000 points during a career at a smaller college, before women entered the NCAA. One might wonder what would have been had she been born during Ms. Staley’s era of recruiting.

Ms. Clark’s childhood idol? Maya Moore, the former University of Connecticut and Minnesota Lynx great whose passion for social activism was on par with her basketball talents. During her playing career, she brought attention to police brutality and wrongfully detained people, years before George Floyd’s murder and Black Lives Matter galvanized the United States.

Women’s sports has been a case study in rewriting narratives about viability and visibility. In August 2023, just over 92,000 people attended a volleyball game at the University of Nebraska, a record-breaking feat in female sport attendance. The NCAA published a commentary about the “Caitlin Clark effect” in late February, but it’s important to remember the presence of another polarizing athlete, LSU’s Angel Reese, who bested Ms. Clark in last year’s NCAA final. Ms. Reese’s postgame press conference after her team lost to Iowa this year, where she tearfully discussed how she had been “sexualized” and mistreated, was a reminder of how race-based narratives can be good for business and bad for humanity.

Nevertheless, women in sports have persevered, and have carried themselves with such power and grace that they have demanded the respect of sports media and colleagues alike. At this hour, there may be no greater ambassador and defender of the game than Ms. Staley. The afternoon before the title game, she was asked about her views on transgender players in women’s sports. Her response was inclusive of transgender players and a rebuke to trollish online commentators: “So now the barnstormer people are going to flood my [social media] timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I’m OK with that. I really am.”

That stern picture was juxtaposed with pure bliss after Ms. Staley allowed herself to be consumed in pink confetti just minutes after her team avenged last season’s heartbreaking loss. Her team’s relentless rotations, her words of affirmation, and a willingness to be a spokesperson for the game upheld a familiar basketball adage: Defense wins championships.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include viewership numbers from the championship game.