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If you weren’t one of the millions of people who tuned in for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament championship, you missed out. Not just because Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark delivered an exciting end to her record-smashing college career, or because South Carolina completed a dazzling undefeated season as champions.
If you weren’t tuning in for that final game, you also missed a chance to be part of history. The game drew a record number of TV viewers for the event, an average of 18.7 million. And for the first time ever, the women’s final had a larger TV audience than the men’s final.
The women’s final between South Carolina and Iowa drew roughly 4 million more viewers than the men’s matchup between Connecticut and Purdue. This is notable not just because the women dunked on the men in the ratings game, but because it reflects the huge strides women’s basketball has made in growing its audience and its impact.
A lot of the credit surely goes to the exciting Iowa team and its unrivaled star Clark, who earlier in the season broke Pete Maravich’s NCAA career scoring record (along with a long list of other records). But the energy building around women’s college basketball can’t be explained by one team or one player; there have been many impressive team and individual performances that have helped make history, and that ensure the future of the sport remains bright.
“You’re seeing the growth in many places: attendance records, viewership and social media engagement surrounding March Madness,” UCLA coach Cori Close said recently, according to the Associated Press. “I don’t think you can attribute it just to Iowa, though. A rising tide does lift all boats. But I think all those boats have been on many different waterways. The product is really good, and the increase of exposure is getting rewarded.”
South Carolina became only the fifth women’s team, and 10th team overall, to go undefeated, according to ESPN. Towering center Kamilla Cardoso in particular helped propel South Carolina in its 38-0 championship run. Cardoso, Clark and LSU forward Angel Reese are now taking their abilities to the WNBA. Other standouts like Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins of USC will be back next year with another chance to keep growing the college game.
Even among a growing pantheon of stars, however, there should be little doubt that Clark has shined the brightest and helped put a spotlight on women’s basketball like never before. Even South Carolina coach Dawn Staley took time during her celebratory remarks to recognize that impact.
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport,” Staley said after her team’s victory on April 7. “She carried a heavy load for our sport and it just is not gonna stop here on the collegiate tour. But when she is the number one pick in the WNBA draft, she’s gonna lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game. We appreciate you.”
Staley, recently named coach of the year, certainly deserves significant appreciation as well. She has now won three national titles as a coach, and even played in the most-watched women’s basketball game of all time — a 1996 Olympic matchup between the U.S. and Brazil. If anyone has a meaningful perspective on how far the women’s game has come, where it’s going and who has helped propel it along the way, it is Staley.
The tournament ended on an exciting note, but also started that way for us in the first round. The 15th seeded University of Maine women, fresh off an impressive win in the America East conference championship, tried for an upset against second seeded Ohio State. They didn’t manage the upset, but they had already managed to make this state proud.
Speaking of pride, Caitlin Clark can be proud of her legacy even without winning a national championship. She doesn’t just have great range on the court, she also showed great reflection when discussing that legacy before the championship game.
“I don’t want my legacy to be, ‘Oh, Caitlin won X amount of games’ or ‘Caitlin scored X amount of points,’” she said. “I hope it’s what I was able to do for the game of women’s basketball. I hope it is the young boys and young girls that are inspired to play this sport or dream to do whatever they want to do in their lives.”
On “Saturday Night Live” recently, Clark also credited several players who helped inspire her, like Maya Moore, Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Cynthia Cooper. She thanked them for “laying the foundation,” and without any doubt, Clark and the most recent NCAA stars have made that foundation even stronger. Clark was selected first overall in the WNBA draft on Monday night, which also drew a record number of viewers.
She, and the rest of women’s college basketball, inspired millions of people this season. That kind of impact will always be more important than wins and losses.
