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South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley cuts down the net after the Final Four college basketball championship game against Iowa in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Cleveland. South Carolina won 87-75. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) It’s official: this year’s March Madness belonged to the women. Sunday’s NCAA women’s championship game between Iowa and South Carolina drew a record rating of 18.7 million viewers – crushing the 14.82 million viewers for Monday night’s men’s championship between UConn and Purdue. It’s the first time ever that the women’s title game has outdrawn the men’s. Sunday’s final was also the most-watched basketball game – men’s or women’s, college or NBA – since 2019. What does this mean for women’s basketball in the U.S. It was a huge win for Coach Dawn Staley led the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 39-0 season and secured her third NCAA Women’s’ Basketball Title. Coach Staley was the first Black head coach for the Lady Gamecocks and is now the highest paid Black women’s coach after signing a 7-year contract worth $22.4 million.
Caitlin Clark Coach Dawn Staley Iowa Women's basketball most-watched basketball game ncaa title game NCAA Women's basketball championship ratings South Carolina women's basketball
