Caitlin Clark scores 41 points as Iowa ends South Carolina's perfect season, setting up final against LSU

Caitlin Clark overwhelmed the reigning champions with another sensational game, scoring 41 points to help Iowa spoil South Carolina's perfect season with a 77-73 victory on Friday night in the Final Four in Dallas.

The spectacular junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal game and became the first women's player to post back-to-back 40-point games in the NCAA tournament. She now has the Hawkeyes in a spot they've never been in before — one victory away from a national championship.

They'll have to beat another SEC team to do that as Iowa (31-6) will face LSU in the title game on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers beat Virginia Tech in the other national semifinal.

It's the Tigers' first appearance in the title game as Kim Mulkey became the second coach to take two different teams to the championship game.

The game lived up to the hype surrounding it— the best player vs. the best team — much to the delight of the sellout crowd of over 19,000 fans.

Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina (36-1) had won 42 in a row, including last year's championship game.

The loss ended a spectacular season for the defending champion Gamecocks, who were trying to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten.

Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks with 24 points.

Slowed by foul trouble, star Aliyah Boston had just eight points and 10 rebounds as the Hawkeyes packed the paint, daring South Carolina to shoot from the outside.

Canada's Laeticia Amihere added eight points, six rebounds and two assists for the Gamecocks.

LSU storms past Virginia Tech

Alexis Morris scored 27 points and had two of her misses in the fourth quarter turned into putback baskets by Angel Reese in a big run as Louisiana State University rallied to beat top-seeded Virginia Tech 79-72 in the national semifinal game earlier on Friday night.

Reese finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (33-2), which is going to the national championship game for the first time. It comes in the second season since feisty and flamboyantly dressed coach Kim Mulkey returned to her home state to take over a Tigers program that lost five consecutive national semifinal games from 2004-08 the only other times they made it this far.

Mulkey, who won three national titles in four Final Four appearances over her 21 seasons at Baylor, is only the second coach to take two different teams to the national championship game. The other was C. Vivian Stringer, with Cheyney in the inaugural 1982 women's tournament and Rutgers in 2007.

Trailing 59-50 after three quarters, LSU went ahead with a 15-0 run over a five-minute span in the fourth period. They led for the first time since late in the first half when Falu'jae Johnson had a steal and drove for a layup to make it 64-62.

Reese had six points in that game-turning spurt, including a basket after Morris' attempted three-pointer clanked off the front rim. Reese had a second-effort follow of her own miss after rebounding another miss by Morris.

Elizabeth Kitley had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia Tech (31-5), the ACC champion that was in the Final Four for the first time.