By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Author

DALLAS-- Caitlin Clark overwhelmed the ruling champions with another mind-blowing game, scoring 41 indicate help Iowa ruin South Carolina's unbeaten season with a 77-73 victory on Friday night in the Final Four.

The incredible junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal video game and ended up being the very first ladies's gamer to publish back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA competition. She now has the Hawkeyes in an area they've never ever been in previously-- one victory far from a national championship.

I have all the self-confidence in the world in this group, and they believe right back in me, and that's all you need," Clark said. "All we do is think in one another and we like each other to death, and that's what a real group is.

They'll have to beat another SEC group to do that as Iowa (31-6) will face LSU in the title game on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers beat Virginia Tech, 79-72, in the first semifinal.

It's the Tigers' very first look in the title video game as Kim Mulkey became the 2nd coach to take 2 various groups to the championship game.

Thanks to the incredible play of Clark and the historical season by South Carolina, this was among the most talked about and highly expected matchups in ladies's Final Four history,

The game lived up to the buzz surrounding it-- the very best gamer 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 actually won 42 in a row, including in 2015's national championship.

" It was physical. You've got to give them a lot of credit," Clark said. "They're a remarkable team, they've had a tremendous year, certainly so well-coached."

This was Iowa's very first appearance in the Final Four in 30 years. The last time the Hawkeyes advanced this far was 1993 and C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team that lost to Ohio State in overtime.

Clark wowed the crowd that consisted of Harper Stribe, a young fan of the team who has actually been fighting cancer. She was featured in a surprise video that informed the Hawkeyes' star that she was the AP Player of the Year.

" I like me some Caitlin Clark," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "We've been talking about being mission-focused a lot this year, and we had a game plan and these guys performed so well.

Clark has actually put on rather a show since pertaining to Iowa. She led the nation in scoring twice and last weekend had a game for the ages, tape-recording the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to lead the Hawkeyes to the Final Four.

Now she has them on the doorstep of more history.

Tracking 59-55 entering the fourth quarter, South Carolina scored the very first 5 indicate take the lead. Clark answered right back with two deep 3-pointers and a help to Monika Czinano to provide the Hawkeyes a 67-62 lead.

South Carolina got within 69-68 on Raven Johnson's 3-pointer prior to Clark got a take for a layup with 3:32 left. Neither team scored again until star Aliyah Boston was fouled with 1:37 left. She made the second of 2 free throws.

Clark then scored another layup on the other end out of a timeout to make it a four-point video game. After a layup by Zia Cooke made it a two-point video game with 58 seconds left, the Hawkeyes ran the clock down with McKenna Warnock getting a big offensive rebound off a Clark miss with 18 seconds staying.

Clark hit 2 complimentary tosses after South Carolina fouled her with 13.5 seconds left. They were her 39th and 38th points, moving her previous Nneka Ogwumike for the most points scored in a Final Four semifinal game.

After a putback by Johnson with 9.9 seconds left got the Gamecocks within 75-73, Clark sealed the game with two more free throws.

As the final seconds went off the clock Clark threw the ball high in the air and galloped around the court.

The loss ended an amazing season for the safeguarding champion Gamecocks, who were attempting to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten.

Cooke led the Gamecocks with 24 points. Slowed by foul problem, Boston had simply 8 points and 10 rebounds as the Hawkeyes packed the paint, bold South Carolina to shoot from the outside.

The Gamecocks completed 4 for 20 from 3-point variety and couldn't take advantage of their 49-25 benefit on the boards, which included 26 offending rebounds.

1,000-POINT CLUB

Clark became the 6th player to score more than 1,000 points in a season. She joined previous Hawkeyes star Megan Gustafson, breaking her school mark of 1,001. Villanova's Maddy Siegrist also reached that turning point this season. Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stiles and Odyssey Sims were the others to do it.