Dawn Staley couldn't speak, her tears came out before any words could.

South Carolina women's basketball perfect season ended with a national title on Sunday. And the coach was at a loss for words when interviewed at the start by ESPN's Holly Rowe.

The No. 1-seeded Gamecocks' revenge tour finished with a championship, defeating No. 1-seeded Iowa 87-75 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. South Carolina finished 38-0 with the win over the Hawkeyes (34-5).

Staley brings her third title back to South Carolina, following up her most recent championship win in 2022.

"So proud, so proud," Staley said with a crack in her voice. "I am so incredibly happy for our players. It doesn't always end like you want it to end, much like last year ... I'm super proud of where I work, I am super proud of our fans, its awesome, its unbelievable."

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South Carolina is the most recent team to go undefeated and win the national title since UConn in 2015-16. The Gamecocks are just the 10th team to become undefeated national champions in NCAA women's basketball history.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley filled with tears, pride after South Carolina wins NCAA title