REESE, LSU WOMEN PUSH PAST MIAMI
So much for Kim Mulkey’s timelines and cautioning against expecting too much, too soon at LSU.
Two years in, and Mulkey’s return to lead her home-state program already includes another Final Four trip — and dreams of more.
Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU returned to the women’s Final Four for the first time in 15 years by beating Miami 54-42 on Sunday night at Greenville, S.C., carrying a rapid rise under Mulkey straight to the sport’s biggest stage.
Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese added 13 for the third-seeded Tigers (32-2), who asserted control of a grinding, defense-first game. LSU’s length caused Miami problems even with Reese — an Associated Press first-team AllAmerican — having a brutal shooting day (3 for 15), and the Tigers offset their offensive hiccups by dominating the glass.
Not bad for a group that began with nine new players, with Morris as the lone returning starter.
“Coach Mulkey, she’s had a plan for us, since Day One,” Morris said, pausing from munching on chicken wings in the locker room. “This year, she had 12 players who just bought in, bought into the system. What you’re witnessing right now is the result of a team commitment.
“We all made a commitment and we all just want one thing, and that’s just to win.”
The reward came at the horn, with Mulkey turning to her bench and leaning forward to put her hands on her knees as though in disbelief. Players ran to midcourt to celebrate, except for Morris running straight to the scorer’s table and jumping on top of it in a moment she said she had long dreamed of.
They might be ahead of schedule after pushing their way through the NCAA Tournament’s Greenville 2 Region. The Tigers head to Dallas to face Ohio State or Virginia Tech in Friday’s national semifinals.
Seattle 4 Region
No. 2 Iowa 97, No. 5 Louisville 83: Caitlin Clark put on a show with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to help Iowa beat Louisville 97-83 and send the Hawkeyes to their first women’s Final Four in 30 years.
The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’s NCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. The Seattle 4 Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 region that has South Carolina playing Maryland tonight.
Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in 1993. Before Sunday, the team had only been to one other Elite Eight — in 2019 — since the Final Four team.
Clark had the 11th tripledouble of her career and the 19th in NCAA Tournament history. She had the first 30- and 40-point triple-double in March Madness history.
Trailing by five at the half, Louisville cut its deficit to 48-47 before Clark and the Hawkeyes scored the next 11 points as part of a 17-6 run to blow the game open. That brought most of the pro-Iowa crowd of nearly 12,000 fans to their feet.
Louisville was down 22 with just under 6 minutes left before going on a 13-1 run to get within 86-76 with 2:10 left. The Cardinals could get no closer.
Hailey Van Lith scored 27 points and Olivia Cochran had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Louisville (26-12).