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The NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four field is set and the marquee match-up of the semifinals is when the Iowa Hawkeyes face off with the South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday night.
The game (around 9:15 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 (Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi broadcast), but if you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream on ESPN+, FuboTV or DirecTV Stream.
Here’s a full guide on the different ways you can watch a live stream of Iowa vs South Carolina:
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FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN, ESPN2 and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Iowa vs South Carolina live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch the game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Fubo credentials if you don’t have that.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN and ESPN2 are included in every one, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Iowa vs South Carolina live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch the game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your DirecTV Stream credentials if you don’t have that.
ESPN+
If you’ve used up all your free trials for other streaming services, ESPN+ is the cheapest way to watch a live stream of the game:
ESPN+ will include the regular broadcast, the Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi broadcast and two other alternate angle broadcasts, plus it has dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Iowa vs South Carolina live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN, ESPN2 and 40-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” package. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest long-term streaming service with ESPN, and you can get your first month half off:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Iowa vs South Carolina live on the Sling TV app or Sling TV website.
Compatible devices for the Sling TV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch the game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Sling credentials if you don’t have that.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN, ESPN2 and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which also includes access to both ESPN+ and Disney+ at no extra cost:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Iowa vs South Carolina live on the Hulu app or Hulu website.
Compatible devices for the Hulu app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, Nintendo Switch, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch the game live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a participating cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Hulu credentials if you don’t have that.
Iowa vs South Carolina Preview
The LSU-Virginia Tech game will undoubtedly be a barn-burner, but the marquee match-up of the NCAA women’s Final Four is between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Hawkeyes are the top offense in the country, averaging almost 88 points per game, while the Gamecocks are leading the nation in almost every defensive category. They have stifled teams all year and their average magin of victory is almost 30 points. So the game between them will be a battle to see who comes out on top.
South Carolina is the reigning women’s NCAA champion and their star center Aliyah Boston was the national player of the year the previous two years. However, Iowa’s top guard Caitlin Clark dethroned her for the Naismith Trophy in 2023 and has been putting up insane numbers this year. In the Elite Eight win over Louisville, Clark notched 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, which is the fifth triple-double this season and the 11th of her career. She also is the first person, men’s or women’s player, to get not only a 30-point triple-double in the NCAA tournament, but a 40-point triple-double in the NCAA tournament.
This is just Iowa’s second Final Four appearance; the first one was 30 years ago in 1993. In the postgame press conference following their Elite Eight win, head coach Lisa Bluder said that their team is a family and they are “thankful” to get this opportunity.
“I’m just pretty thankful right now. I don’t know if it’s quite really sunk in yet. But this group is amazing and to do the thing you love with the people that you love, it doesn’t get any better than that and that’s exactly how this team is … we have each other’s backs through highs and lows. We’re just very thankful that we get to represent the great state of Iowa in the Final Four,” said Bluder.
Clark famously said she wanted to take Iowa to the Final Four back when she committed to the Hawkeyes and people always told her it would never happen.
“About the only people that believed were me and [Coach Bluder] when I first committed to her. It was getting the locker room to believe … and the rest is kind of history. A lot of people told me it would never happen when I came to the University of Iowa, but she believed in me and that was really all that mattered and we made our locker room believe. When you dream and you work really hard, a lot of really cool things can happen,” said Clark.
South Carolina enters the game undefeated on the season. In fact, their winning streak extends back to the SEC conference tournament title game in 2002 when they lost by two points to Kentucky. Iowa has six losses on the year this season, but they are currently riding an eight-game win streak.
The NCAA women’s semifinal between Iowa and South Carolina tips off Friday, March 31 at roughly 9 p.m. Eastern time following the conclusion of the LSU/Virginia Tech game on ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN Plus.