Ahead of South Carolina women's basketball's national championship game against star player Caitlin Clark and Iowa, coach Dawn Staley weighed in on the GOAT conversation.

"You got to win a championship," Staley told reporters Saturday. "I agree with (Breanna Stewart) when it comes to winning the national championship."

Staley considers Breanna Stewart to be at the top of her GOAT list, telling reporters that Stewart's four national championships, four MVP awards during her time at UConn cements her status.

Clark will get another chance Sunday (3 p.m., ABC) when the No. 1 seeded Hawkeyes (35-4) play No. 1 seeded South Carolina (38-0) in Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Stewart was asked Friday if Clark needs a national title to be considered one of the greatest players in women's college basketball history.

"Yeah, she does," Stewart said. "You're going to look 10 years back, you're going to see all the records she's broken but anybody knows your goal when you play college basketball is to win a national championship."

Staley agreed with Stewart and referenced her own playing career as an example. Staley played for Virginia and led the Cavaliers to one title game and three Final Four games but never won the national championship.

"If Caitlin wins the championship, she is pretty damn good, yeah like she's the GOAT," Staley continued. "I mean, she's really damn good regardless. But winning the championship would seal the deal. I hope to the dear Lord she doesn't."

Clark's chance at reaching that status is met with Staley's undefeated team. Last season, Iowa stripped South Carolina's chances at a back to back national title, eliminating the Gamecocks in the Final Four. A year later, the two teams meet again in the national title game.

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Iowa defeated No. 3 UConn 71-69 on Friday. Clark had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the win. South Carolina took care of business in the second half against NC State, stretching its lead to double digits, winning 78-59.

The Gamecocks will play in their second title game in three years after winning the national championship in 2022. Iowa looks to rewrite last year's title defeat, after the Hawkeyes fell to LSU.

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: NCAA women's basketball: Dawn Staley says GOAT needs a ring