On Sunday afternoon, Iowa women's basketball superstar Caitlin Clark and her Hawkeyes saw their historic 2023-24 season come to a disappointing end with a frustrating loss to South Carolina, who finished their own season with an undefeated record under legendary head coach Dawn Staley. Clark broke numerous records during this season with Iowa, including becoming the NCAA's all-time leading scorer for men's and women's basketball, and even helped her team avenge their championship game loss a year ago vs LSU women's basketball with a win over the Tigers in the Elite Eight last week.

Still, it was a disappointing finish to the season for Clark, who came out on fire Sunday, scoring 18 points in the first quarter alone and helping her team race out to an impressive 10-0 lead over the Gamecocks, but finishing with 12 points over the final three frames, as Iowa saw their lack of size become a major problem throughout the afternoon, relinquishing offensive rebound after offensive rebound to South Carolina.

After the game, a lot of praise was heaped in Clark's direction, including from WNBA legend Sue Bird, who took to her account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, to congratulate Clark on an incredible college career.

“What a season  @IowaWBB and what a career @CaitlinClark22. We undoubtedly watched one of the all time best college careers….ring or not. Thank you for helping elevate our sport with your play, your poise, and of course your logo 3’s! I can’t wait to watch you at the next level!” wrote Bird in her post.

Bird also took the time to congratulate Dawn Staley and South Carolina women's basketball on their accomplishment on X.

“Huge Congratulations to  @GamecockWBB @dawnstaley @ the entire program! Undefeated season w a ring is legendary,” wrote Bird, accompanied by a flower emoji at the end.

An unprecedented talent

Perhaps no player in history has brought more attention to women's basketball in such a short amount of time than Caitlin Clark. Conjuring up memories of when Stephen Curry burst onto the NBA scene and revolutionized the way the game is played with his logo 3's and clear joy in playing the game, Clark had a similar effect on women's basketball, bringing in unprecedented television viewership to the sport, increasing ticket sales, and generating more national attention to it than ever before.

Of course, not everyone was thrilled about this, as recently, fellow women's basketball legend Diana Taurasi came under fire for some harsh (salty) comments when discussing Clark's WNBA prospects on ESPN, before saying that she would take UConn star Paige Bueckers ahead of Clark if she had the first overall pick in the draft.

In some respects, it is understandable that WNBA legends like Bird and Taurasi might be a bit jealous after pouring their heart and soul into the sport for years only to have a 22-year-old college student come in and multiply their impact on the sport's publicity tenfold in such a short period of time. In any case, contrary to Taurasi's opinion, Clark is widely expected to be the number one overall pick in the WNBA draft.