EVEN Caitlin Clark couldn’t stop LSU’s offensive juggernaut in the March Madness finale.
The Tigers won the first championship in program history with a brilliant offensive performance, beating Iowa, 102-85, in the NCAA Tournament women’s title game on Sunday.
Jasmine Carson scored 22 points off the bench—including 21 points in a first-half blitz that featured five 3-pointers—Alexis Morris added 21 and the Tigers shot 54% from the field.
Iowa’s Clark, who was named The Associated Press women’s basketball Player of the Year, had 30 points and eight assists to wrap up a stellar season, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Hawkeyes to the first title. Clark set an NCAA Tournament record with 191 points over six games, topping the record set by Sheryl Swoopes in 1993.
LSU’s Kim Mulkey won the fourth title of her coaching career and became the first to win a title at two schools. The flamboyant coach won three championships during 21 seasons at Baylor before returning to her home state.
Clark scored 41 points to lead the Hawkeyes over previously undefeated South Carolina, 77-73, in the national semifinals on Friday night. The loss denied South Carolina—the No. 1 team all season—a chance at a second straight title. LSU topped Virginia Tech on Friday and then saved arguably its best game of the season for the finale.
SHINING MOMENTS
CAITLIN CLARK had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history to lead Iowa to its first Final Four appearance in 30 years. She followed that with 41 points in the semifinals in a performance that somehow managed to live up to the ample hype.
Her postseason stats caught the attention of National Basketball Association stars. Kevin Durant and Chris Paul were talking about Clark’s performance in the locker room following the Phoenix Suns’ win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
“Incredible run that she’s on,” Durant said. “She’s playing phenomenal basketball, her team is rallying around her.”
The tournament featured a couple of big upsets of top seeds. In the second round, No. 8 seed Mississippi knocked off No. 1 Stanford and No. 9 Miami toppled No. 1 Indiana. Miami made it to the Elite Eight before losing to LSU.
Also, UConn’s incredible streak of 14 straight Final Fours ended this season after Ohio State beat the Huskies in the Sweet 16.
Clark’s huge tournament and the other big storylines meant plenty of fan interest. The women’s Final Four secondary ticket market actually outpaced that of the men’s tournament.
Image credits: AP
