Iowa-LSU rematch brings star power of Clark, Reese
ALBANY, N.Y. — Iowa and LSU would rather not be playing each other on Monday night.
It’s not that they don’t relish the challenge of a rematch of the teams that met in last year’s national championship game. It’s just that both teams wish the stage was just a little bit bigger.
“We talk about growing the game,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “Didn’t that national championship game have the highest ratings ever in women’s basketball? You’re probably going to anticipate this one will, too, but it needs to be at the Final Four.”
The storylines are plentiful. It’s not just a March Madness rematch, it’s last year’s champion (LSU) against a No. 1 seed (Iowa) in the Albany 2 Region final. And it features two of the game’s biggest and most competitive stars in LSU’s Angel Reese and the Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clark going head to head again.
“You’ve got two very talented players that have brought a lot of attention to our sport,” Mulkey said. “They both trashtalk. They both make their teammates better. They both have their teammates’ back. They have both elevated our game to where we have people watching that never watched women’s basketball before.”
But these are, of course, different teams from those that played last April in the Tigers’ 102-85 win.
LSU (31-5), a No. 3 seed this year, no longer has its three top scorers from that game: forward LaDazhia Williams (20 points) and guards Jasmine Carson (22) and Alexis Morris (21). In their place are forward Aneesah Morrow (16.5 points per game), a transfer from DePaul, and guards Mikaylah Williams (14.4), a freshman, Hailey Van Lith (11.7), a transfer from Louisville.
“I just think they shoot the 3 ball, they rebound so well,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “You’ve got five people averaging in double figures. That’s really hard to guard when you have that kind of balance.”
And Iowa (32-4) is more than just Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I hoops history who had 15 assists in addition to her 29 points Saturday in a blowout win over Colorado in the Sweet 16.
Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin, who each had 14 points against the Buffaloes, have stepped into bigger roles this year. And 6-foot-2 Hannah Stuelke has replaced Monika Czinano as the team’s secondleading scorer.
Clark said she learned some lessons from the loss a year ago and plans to be more aggressive this time around.
“I think I took 19 3s and 22 shots total versus LSU the last time we played them,” she said. “So not settling and falling in love with my 3-point shot, being able to get into the paint, drive into the paint, I think that allows my teammates to get open.”
Watkins, Bueckers are in the spotlight
PORTLAND, Ore. — In any other year, the focus ahead of the top-seeded University of Southern California and the thirdseeded University of Connecticut clashing with a Final Four berth at stake might be on the programs, not individual players.
A program in an NCAA regional final for the first time in 30 years versus the established powerhouse of the sport getting to a familiar place despite being beset by injuries.
But not this year. Not with fabulous freshman JuJu Watkins on one side for the Trojans (29-5) and the dogged determination of Paige Bueckers on the other for the Huskies (32-5).
“I think we would all tell you, right, it’s USC against UConn, and it’s LSU against Iowa. But star power drives narratives in athletics. It’s why the NBA took off, you know, when there were faces to it, going all the way back to Magic and Larry and Michael Jordan,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think it’s great for our game. The quality of basketball has been really high and really exciting, but to have stars in these games, I think, makes people tune in.”
The star power will be plentiful in the Portland 3 Region final, just as it will in the Iowa-LSU matchup that precedes it, but the history is noteworthy, too.
The Trojans haven’t reached the Final Four since 1986, with their only other trips to the semifinals resulting in back-to-back NCAA titles in 1983-84. UConn’s 11 titles are more than any other program, and this is the Huskies’ 28th time in the Elite Eight. Their chance at a 23rd Final Four trip comes in a season when the Huskies have made it this far with an injury-depleted roster.
Bueckers said she has been impressed by the entire freshman class this season, but specially with the 18-year-old Watkins, who has shown confidence and poise in her first year while doing a little bit of everything for the Trojans. In USC’s Sweet 16 win over Baylor, Watkins reached the 30-point mark for the 14th time this season.
Watkins said one of the things that stands out about Bueckers, who returned this season after missing much of the past two due to injury, is her pace. She plays hard, she plays relentlessly. But it’s controlled.
“That’s the key part to being a great basketball player, is surveying the court and stuff like that. It’s definitely something I’m continuing to work on, but I would say she’s got it,” Watkins said. “Not necessarily how quick, but the way she’s able to slow the game down and make the right plays.”