CNN
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The sequel didn’t have exactly the same cast as the original. College basketball doesn’t work that way.
But the two prominent stars of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament a year ago — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese — have remained at the forefront of the sport. On Monday night, they both lived up to the hype, but it’s the sharpshooter Clark who gets to play.
Clark had 41 points – including 9 of 20 from three-point range – to go with 12 assists and seven rebounds, and No. 1 Iowa dominated No. 3 LSU 94-87, a rematch of the game for the last year’s NCAA title, to advance to the Final Four for the second straight season.
“The work is not done,” Clark told ESPN on the field after the victory.
Next up for Iowa is a program synonymous with Final Fours and national championship victories: No. 3 UConn, which held off freshman phenom JuJu Watkins, and No. 1 USC 80- 73 in the regional final in Portland, Oregon.
This will be the 23rd Final Four appearance – and 15th in the last 16 NCAA Tournaments – for the 11-time national champion Huskies, all under the direction of head coach Geno Auriemma. This will be the third Final Four for UConn star Paige Bueckers, who missed last season with a torn ACL.
This might be the most unlikely trip to the Final Four, as UConn, decimated by injuries this season, had a depleted roster.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the women’s bracket, undefeated and top-seeded South Carolina will face No. 3 NC State in the Final Four. These two teams clinched their spots thanks to victories on Sunday.
The women’s Final Four is scheduled to take place Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and the national championship game is scheduled for Sunday.
Clark, who has the most career points in Division I women’s and men’s history, is a generational talent. The 22-year-old is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15.
But before the WNBA, he has one last chance for a national title.
After the game, the Iowa superstar shared a moment in the handshake line with Reese and LSU head coach Kim Mulkey.
“(Clark) just told me, ‘Keep being a great player,’ and I told her to keep being a great player too, keep elevating the game and keep winning it,” Reese said.
“What did I say to him?” I said, ‘I’m really glad you’re leaving,'” Mulkey said. “I said, ‘Girl, you’re something else.’ I’ve never seen anything like it.
Was Iowa planning to get revenge after what happened last year?
“To be honest, no,” Clark said.
As Iowa and LSU faced off in the Elite Eight, the contest at MVP Arena in Albany, New York, had the energy and intensity of a national championship game.
Despite suffering a rolled ankle in the second quarter, Reese recorded his 10th consecutive double-double in the NCAA Tournament, tying the tournament record, with 17 points and 20 rebounds before fouling out with 1:45 to play. She also had four assists, three blocks and two steals.
Kate Martin added 21 points for Iowa, while Sydney Affolter had 16. LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson had 23 points.
The last time Clark and Reese faced off — with Reese waving her hand in front of her face at Clark then pointing her ring finger as LSU closed in on the national title — it was the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history. ‘history. . The 2023 game has been compared to when Magic Johnson faced Larry Bird in the 1979 NCAA men’s title game.
Tony Gutiérrez/AP
Reese gestures to Clark last year.
But Johnson and Bird didn’t have a Part II (at least not in college) like Clark and Reese.
Clark continues to add to the record books, breaking the NCAA all-time record for career three-pointers made in Monday’s game, surpassing Oklahoma’s Taylor Robertson.
Clark also broke the NCAA Tournament record for most assists (140) and three-pointers (70) in 15 career games.
It’s unclear whether Reese, last year’s Final Four MVP, will return to LSU or head to the WNBA. Reese, who turns 22 in May, is a junior.
“I’ll make a decision when I’m ready,” Reese told reporters after the game.
While a rematch between Iowa and LSU was the big talking point heading into the NCAA Tournament, the last of Monday night’s Elite Eight matchups was also compelling.
USC’s Watkins, just 18 years old, is second in the nation to Clark in points per game this season. On Monday in Portland, on her way to 29 points and 10 rebounds, she set the record for most points scored by a freshman in a single season.
But the Huskies came out on top, as Bueckers, who was recently hailed by Auriemma as the “best player in America,” led her team with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Bueckers, a 22-year-old redshirt junior, announced in February she would return to UConn for one more season instead of opting for the WNBA.
In 2021, she became the first freshman to win the Naismith, Associated Press and Wooden Player of the Year awards.
“So much joy and pride for this team,” Bueckers said. “I’m so proud. We’re not even supposed to be here, and here we are.
Notably, USC and UConn were playing at the Moda Center in Portland – the site where it was discovered Sunday that the the three-point lines on the court were uneven and not at the same distance from the basket.
In a statement released earlier Monday, NCAA vice president for women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said the problem had been corrected and the court was now “in full compliance with the playing rules of the NCAA.” She added that what happened in Portland “was an isolated incident.”
“We apologize for this error and for the time it went unnoticed,” Holzman said. “Simply put, this court failed to meet our expectations and the NCAA should have caught the error sooner.”
To broadcast the movie “This is Spinal Tap,” the amplification for that night of the NCAA tournament was switched to 11 a.m.
“RIP to the viewing figures, right? It’s going to destroy everything,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said Sunday.
“I think we’ll all tell you, it’s true, it’s USC versus UConn, and it’s LSU versus Iowa. But star power fuels stories in athletics. That’s why the NBA took off, you know, when there were faces, going back to Magic and Larry and Michael Jordan.
“The NCAA got it right, because tonight’s women’s tournament matchups are among the best in history! » Magic Johnson said in an article on.
“There is star power on all four teams, great coaching and all have exceptional stories of how they reached the Elite Eight! As a basketball fan and a fan of women’s sports, this is heaven for me!
