Two of the nation’s top-scoring offenses will go head-to-head on Monday night at 6:15 p.m. when No. 3 LSU (31-4) and No. 1 Iowa (32-4) for an Elite Eight matchup in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship.
Two of the main faces of women’s college basketball will meet once again. Angel Reese has recorded nine straight double-doubles for LSU in the NCAA Tournament, tied for a tournament record. Her profile ballooned after she and LSU scored a NCAA Championship game record 102 points to take down Iowa. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, a generational player, owns the NCAA scoring record and is the first player in Division-I history with 3,800+ points, 1,000+ assists and 950+ rebounds.
Both teams have drawn record crowds at home and on the road while also driving historic television ratings. Last year’s championship game drew a women’s basketball record 9.9-million viewers on ABC. Monday’s crowd at MVP Arena will be packed to the brim and the ESPN broadcast is expected to draw well once again as both teams compete for a chance to advance to the Final Four in Cleveland.
“It’s just another game to help grow women’s basketball,” Reese said. “It’s going to be unfortunate, of course, to play them just in the Regionals, but of course we’re just happy to be a part of it. We’re happy where we are right now.”
“You’ve got two very talented players that have brought a lot of attention to our sport,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “They both trash talk. 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. Yeah, those are tough women.”
This year’s LSU team is different than the one the beat Iowa last year on April 2. Flau’Jae Johnson, Last-Tear Poa and Reese are the only players on this year’s team that played in the championship game. Hailey Van Lith has experience at this level of the NCAA Tournament, reaching three Elite Eights and one Final Four at Louisville. Aneesah Morrow, a transfer from DePaul, is playing in her first NCAA Tournament as are freshmen Mikaylah Williams and Aalyah Del Rosario.
“Well, each of us are a new team,” Coach Kim Mulkey said Sunday. “We’re not the same team we were last year, nor are they. But you certainly have some key pieces on each team. Our game plan will not even mention what we did last year because we don’t have the same personnel.”
Johnson was electric for the Tigers in the Saturday win over UCLA. She had 24 points and 12 rebounds with 2 blocks to help send LSU to the Elite Eight with her second double-double of the year. In postseason play this season, including the SEC Tournament, Johnson is averaging a team-leading 19.7 points, 5.3 rebound with 14 assists, 13 steals and 8 blocks.