The South Carolina Gamecocks capped off a perfect 38-0 season on Sunday, toppling the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 to win the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament. This marked the program’s third national championship in eight years under head coach Dawn Staley, cementing them as a modern dynasty of the sport.
The common thread of their three title teams has been a dominant, All-Amercan big leading the way in the paint. The 2017 team had future WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who averaged 19.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks during the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament run that year. The 2022 squad was led by future WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, who averaged 16.8 points and 15.2 rebounds during their run through March/April. This year, it was Kamilla Cardoso’s turn and Sunday’s victory officially enshrined her as another all-time great in Columbia.
Transferring from Syracuse in 2021, the 6’7” center spent her first two seasons in Columbia backing up Boston off the bench. She got plenty of experience during that time and even earned SEC Sixth Woman of the Year honors in 2023. When that team was ultimately ousted in the Final Four, it finally became her turn to carry the torch.
Cardoso made a statement as a starter right out the gate, putting up 20 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks in the Gamecocks’ season opening victory over Notre Dame in Paris. What followed was a year of dominance of dominance in the paint as she was quite literally the central figure of South Carolina piling up victory after victory. She was hard to contain on offense as her height and knack for pulling down offensive rebounds made it difficult for opponents to contend with. On the other side of the floor, her mere presence forced teams to avoid the paint and that earned her SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Sunday’s title game was proof positive of that as she was the engine behind the Gamecocks pulling past the Hawkeyes after an early deficit and holding Caitlin Clark to just 35.7% shooting for the afternoon. Cardoso put up 15 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocks in the championship win, ultimately being named Most Outstanding Player for the entire tournament.
South Carolina has established itself a the current powerhouse in women’s college basketball and its run at the top has been filled with excellent bigs leading the way. Cardoso has now carved out a legacy for herself and if recent history has been any indicator, she’s about to carry her dominance into the WNBA.