BY ALEX RASKIN
It’s rare that an Elite 8 matchup could command more attention than an NCAA Tournament final, but that could be the case this year as Iowa and Louisiana State met Monday in Albany for a rematch of the 2023 championship .
A year ago, LSU’s 102-85 win over Iowa in the title game drew nearly 10 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s basketball game ever.
The key players were all back this time: LSU coach Kim Mulkey and her star, “Bayou Barbie” Angel Reese, as well as Iowa coach Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark, the reigning NCAA Player of the Year.
And what little roster turnover there was only seemed to strengthen this budding rivalry.
Bluder successfully replaced Monika Czinano’s scoring with power forward Hannah Stuelke, while guiding Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin to bigger roles in 2023-2024.
Mulkey, meanwhile, was forced to replace Jasmine Carson, LaDazhia Williams and Alexis Morris, who combined for 65 points in last year’s finals as Morris stepped up to ‘hold’ Clark to 30 points on defense.
This season, Mulkey has leaned heavily on the perimeter defense of sophomore Flau’jae Johnson and two transfers: ex-DePaul star Aneesah Morrow and former Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith.
Caitlin Clark will be defended in 2023 by then-Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith
It’s a rematch of last year’s title game, in which Reese’s Tigers beat Clark’s Hawkeyes
And Monday wasn’t the first time Van Lith faced Clark in the Elite 8. A year earlier, when her Cardinals faced Clark’s Hawkeyes in Seattle, Van Lith was defeated 41-27 by the Player of the Year as Iowa advanced to first place. Final Four since 1993.
Along the way, Clark appeared to taunt Van Lith with wrestler John Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture after she buried her sixth 3-pointer of the night.
Van Lith has since claimed that the gesture was actually directed at Iowa’s strength coach and not her, but there was certainly some level of nonsense going on between herself and Clark. Another clip near the end of the Iowa win showed Clark telling Van Lith, “You’re down fifteen points, shut up.”
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will renew their rivalry in the Elite Eight on Monday night
Clark would get a taste of her own medicine a week later.
After upsetting defending champion South Carolina in the Final Four, Clark was on the receiving end of Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” routine, but that night it was LSU’s Reese who did the honors.
The trio will forever be linked by the ensuing controversy, whether they cared about it or not.
For her part, Clark said she didn’t think Reese deserved accusations of poor sportsmanship. Van Lith, meanwhile, has suggested that opponents were more critical of Reese than Clark for making the same gesture due to a racist double standard.
Undeniably, none of that mattered in Albany on Monday.
This also applied to the Kim Mulkey saga.
Mulkey has been at the center of a media firestorm since she targeted Washington Post reporter Kent Babb over a piece that wasn’t scheduled to be published until March 25. The profile raised questions about her treatment of LGBTQ+ players and quotes family members as saying they haven’t talked. until the decorated carriage in a few years.
LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey watches during the first half on Monday
Mulkey accused Babb of writing a one-sided “hit piece,” although she admitted that she had declined the opportunity to give her side of the story for months before the article’s publication.
She even threatened to sue the Washington Post: “The lawyers will review it, and when this season is over, they will call me and say, this is our next step. I don’t read that stuff.’
Although Mulkey feared the WaPo article would serve as a distraction, her players proved otherwise in a 78-69 Sweet 16 win over UCLA.
Iowa, meanwhile, had an even easier time with Colorado in the Sweet 16, winning 89-68.
And with that, the most anticipated rematch in women’s basketball history occurred.
