Clark, Reese one win away from rematch

ALBANY, N.Y. — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese bring a lot of star power to the Albany 2 Regional as two of the biggest names in college basketball.

Clark’s Iowa squad and Reese’s LSU team would both have to win their Sweet 16 games for the two to meet in an NCAA championship rematch that drew the biggest audience in women’s basketball history last April with nearly 10 million people tuning in.

They’re both focused on their games at hand because it won’t be easy for either team to advance to the regional final. The top-seeded Hawkeyes face fifth-seed Colorado in a rematch of their Sweet 16 game last year. The third-seeded Tigers meet No. 2 UCLA in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Tigers could have other distractions from an upcoming story on coach Kim Mulkey in the Washington Post that she railed against last week and even threatened legal action. Mulkey said her attention is solely on the UCLA game.

“I did make a statement, and that’s all I’ll comment on at this time because all I am focused on is to try and win another basketball game,” she said. “Thank you for asking, though.”

Colorado will have to figure out a way to slow down Clark, who earlier this season became the NCAA’S Division I career scoring leader.

Last time when the two teams met in the Seattle Regional, Iowa came away with an 87-77 victory. Clark had 31 points and eight assists in the victory.

“They are the same team, but they also have added some new pieces or added some new dimensions to their game,” Colorado coach JR Payne said. “Playing Iowa is very similar in that regard, very similar to what they were, but also added some new things, as well, so similar approach. A little bit of both.”