USC and UConn are already underway. It’ll tough to top what we just saw, but JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers should make it worth your while to stay in front of your TV a bit longer.
After that, we’ll have one of the most compelling Final Fours imaginable. Women’s basketball is having a moment, to be sure. And it’s hard to argue with that.
Thanks for following along with me tonight, and have a lovely April.
If you haven’t yet jumped on the Caitlin Clark bandwagon, you’ve missed out. She’s the most exciting player in basketball right now. Not women’s basketball. Not college basketball. Any basketball.
LSU didn’t give up its crown without a fight. Angel Reese dominated much of the first half. Flau’Jae Johnson battled for 23 points. But Clark was even better than usual, answering the call in this titanic matchup.
All we need to know now is whether this game will break some ratings records.
Well, that, and the remaining games in this tournament. This only got Iowa to the Final Four. USC and UConn are next. And we still may have a USC-USC matchup (Southern California vs. unbeaten South Carolina).
Clark hasn’t made a mistake in a while, but she makes one here, fouling Poa on a 3-pointer that the LSU guard still hits. Poa misses the free throw, but LSU keeps possession, and Johnson winds up scoring. That’s five points on one trip down the court. If they do that twice more …
The only way LSU can get back in this game is to hit free throws while Iowa misses, and Marshall obliges by fouling Williams, who hits both shots from the line. Iowa calls timeout.
LSU presses hard, but that leaves Martin wide open under the basket. She kills a second or two before laying it in.
But LSU’s Poa gets a fifth foul on Stuelke with a clever play, simply stepping in front of her as she runs down the court without looking where she’s going.
Johnson misses a wild shot, and Van Lith fouls Martin. She drains both free throws.
Offensive foul on Angel Reese, and she’s out of there. That’s five. Mulkey can’t believe it, because she apparently was watching something else at the time. That’s as obvious a call as you’ll ever see, coach.
Johnson is now guarding Clark, who misses from very long range. But Johnson fouls Marshall hard after the Iowa guard swipes the ball, and that’s her fourth.
Clark drives but travels.
Reese is fouled and will shoot. She makes one of two.
Jill Kayser writes to complain that the commentators are all about LSU. Yeah, I don’t know. I’d say there’ve been a lot of shots of Mulkey.
Clark feeds Hannah Stuelke, who just picked up her fourth foul but makes the layup here and is fouled. That’s four fouls on Angel Reese.
Reese hasn’t scored much since the first half, but she’s up to 17 rebounds to go with her 16 points. The stars have certainly delivered here. But so has Johnson (16 points) for LSU, and Morrow has 14 points and 12 boards. For Iowa, Martin’s 15 points and Affolter’s 14 have been vital.
We resume for the last 4:49 of the game, and Iowa brings it up slowly. A couple of passes, and … did we mention Martin? She hits a fadeaway jumper with 3 seconds on the shot clock.
Now Clark is making plays on defense. She knocks the ball out of play to break up an LSU attack. Soon after the inbounds pass, she gets a steal. She looks like she might pull up for 3, but Affolter is making a run through the lane, so Clark feeds it to her instead.
TV timeout after Clark misses one from another zip code.
The numbers here are staggering. Clark has 31 points. Reese and Morrow have 11 rebounds each. But a lot of those rebounds came early, and the Hawkeyes have been holding their own on the glass for some time now. Addison O’Grady’s stats are modest – 2 points, 3 rebounds and a block – but she’s helping Iowa establish an interior presence that was missed in the first quarter.
Johnson fouls Clark in transition. The Iowa star keeps going to the hoops, but “continuation” generally doesn’t cover 5-6 steps. More importantly, that’s Johnson’s third. She’ll go to the bench.
Another LSU foul, and now Poa has three. Clark puts up the long shot anyway, even though it won’t count. Swish.
Ball back in play. Clark steps toward the arc, steps back, shoots, swish. That’s 31.
LSU feeds it to Reese at the other end, and O’Grady blocks her shot. Then she blocks another, but a foul is called. Reese to the line. She misses one and hits the second.
ESPN’s win probability shows Iowa at 52.1%. I’d still lean toward LSU here. The rebounding advantage is just too much, and Reese is having a game for the ages.