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USC and UConn are already underway. It’ll tough to top what we just saw, but JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers should make it worth your while to stay in front of your TV a bit longer.
After that, we’ll have one of the most compelling Final Fours imaginable. Women’s basketball is having a moment, to be sure. And it’s hard to argue with that.
Thanks for following along with me tonight, and have a lovely April.
FINAL: Iowa 94, LSU 87
If you haven’t yet jumped on the Caitlin Clark bandwagon, you’ve missed out. She’s the most exciting player in basketball right now. Not women’s basketball. Not college basketball. Any basketball.
LSU didn’t give up its crown without a fight. Angel Reese dominated much of the first half. Flau’Jae Johnson battled for 23 points. But Clark was even better than usual, answering the call in this titanic matchup.
All we need to know now is whether this game will break some ratings records.
Well, that, and the remaining games in this tournament. This only got Iowa to the Final Four. USC and UConn are next. And we still may have a USC-USC matchup (Southern California vs. unbeaten South Carolina).
LSU 84-94 Iowa, 0:23.9, fourth quarter
Clark has set NCAA Tournament career records for 3-pointers and assists. She’s fouled. One down – that’s 40 points. Another one – make it 41.
LSU 84-92 Iowa, 0:26.1, fourth quarter
Clark hasn’t made a mistake in a while, but she makes one here, fouling Poa on a 3-pointer that the LSU guard still hits. Poa misses the free throw, but LSU keeps possession, and Johnson winds up scoring. That’s five points on one trip down the court. If they do that twice more …
LSU 79-92 Iowa, 0:41.9, fourth quarter
Numbers:
Reese finishes with 17 points and 20 rebounds. Yes, with a 0 at the end.
Clark has 37 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds.
Martin has 21 points.
Iowa calls timeout. ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo points out that Iowa surely did that so they could opt to take the ball at midcourt in the offensive half.
Clark dribbles and dribbles. LSU seems hesitant to foul her of all people. They finally do so, and she hits both shots.
LSU 79-90 Iowa, 0:52.7, fourth quarter
Williams fouls Affolter, who hits both of her shots. Williams comes back the other way to hit a 3, and LSU uses its last timeout. That’s … odd.
LSU 76-88 Iowa, 0:59.5, fourth quarter
The only way LSU can get back in this game is to hit free throws while Iowa misses, and Marshall obliges by fouling Williams, who hits both shots from the line. Iowa calls timeout.
LSU 74-88 Iowa, 1:05, fourth quarter
LSU presses hard, but that leaves Martin wide open under the basket. She kills a second or two before laying it in.
But LSU’s Poa gets a fifth foul on Stuelke with a clever play, simply stepping in front of her as she runs down the court without looking where she’s going.
Johnson misses a wild shot, and Van Lith fouls Martin. She drains both free throws.
LSU 74-84 Iowa, 1:45, fourth quarter
Offensive foul on Angel Reese, and she’s out of there. That’s five. Mulkey can’t believe it, because she apparently was watching something else at the time. That’s as obvious a call as you’ll ever see, coach.
LSU 74-84 Iowa, 1:55, fourth quarter
Clark misses, and LSU goes quickly the other way. Williams makes a layup, and LSU calls timeout. They only have one left.
LSU 72-84 Iowa, 2:17, fourth quarter
Johnson is now guarding Clark, who misses from very long range. But Johnson fouls Marshall hard after the Iowa guard swipes the ball, and that’s her fourth.
Clark drives but travels.
Reese is fouled and will shoot. She makes one of two.
Jill Kayser writes to complain that the commentators are all about LSU. Yeah, I don’t know. I’d say there’ve been a lot of shots of Mulkey.
Clark feeds Hannah Stuelke, who just picked up her fourth foul but makes the layup here and is fouled. That’s four fouls on Angel Reese.
LSU 71-82 Iowa, 3:59, fourth quarter
Reese hasn’t scored much since the first half, but she’s up to 17 rebounds to go with her 16 points. The stars have certainly delivered here. But so has Johnson (16 points) for LSU, and Morrow has 14 points and 12 boards. For Iowa, Martin’s 15 points and Affolter’s 14 have been vital.
We resume for the last 4:49 of the game, and Iowa brings it up slowly. A couple of passes, and … did we mention Martin? She hits a fadeaway jumper with 3 seconds on the shot clock.
Did we mention Johnson? She answers with a layup.
LSU 69-80 Iowa, 4:49, fourth quarter
Clark hits from a very, very, very long way away. That’s 37 points to go with her 10 assists.
LSU loses control on the other end, and Iowa ties it up. They’ll have possession when we return from the TV timeout.
ESPN puts Iowa’s win probability at 99%. That’s a bit much. This isn’t over.
LSU 69-77 Iowa, 5:18, fourth quarter
A missed 3 at each end. LSU has a patient possession for a change, and Morrow scores.
Clark misses a layup but gets her own rebound and resets.
LSU 67-77 Iowa, 6:31, fourth quarter
Clark feeds Martin for her 10th assist.
LSU 67-75 Iowa, 6:54, fourth quarter
Van Lith hits two free throws, which must feel good after having the thankless task of chasing Clark around on defense.
Clark makes a bad pass on the other end for her first turnover in a while. Martin swipes the ball back from Johnson, and Morrow commits a foul.
LSU 65-75 Iowa, 7:47, fourth quarter
Reese misses a tough shot. Clark gets the rebound, pushes the pace, brings it back out, and feeds Martin for the layup.
Morrow answers at the other end.
Clark answers with her eighth 3-pointer of the night. This was from routine distance.
LSU 63-69 Iowa, 8:55, fourth quarter
Williams hits a much-needed 3 for LSU. O’Grady misses a flat-footed jumper, then commits a foul at the other end.
Morrow scores for LSU, and the lead has been cut almost in half.
End third quarter: LSU 58-69 Iowa
Affolter hits two free throws.
Van Lith turns it over. Mulkey is on the bench with her head in her hands and almost in her own lap.
Clark winds down the shot clock, then misses a difficult layup. Reese gets the rebound, and Johnson tries a 3 at the buzzer. It’s off target.
Third quarter: Iowa 24, LSU 13.
LSU 58-67 Iowa, 0:44.2, third quarter
The referees check a replay to see if they missed an “intentional foul” on LSU, but it looks like it’s just grazing the Iowa player’s cheek.
The ageless Village People classic YMCA plays while the referees check the monitor.
Upon resumption, Johnson gets a steal, stripping the ball from Martin, and Reese scores for the first time in eons.
LSU gets two offensive rebounds, with Johnson finally getting the ball in. Iowa races the other way, but Johnson catches up for the block.
Iowa steal, and Clark tosses a 40-foot pass to O’Grady for the layup.
LSU 52-65 Iowa, 2:45, third quarter
LSU is starting to look a little desperate now. Mikaylah Williams rushes a jumper that is well off the mark.
Kate Martin makes a nifty spin move and hits a short jumper to push the lead to 13.
LSU 52-63 Iowa, 3:40, third quarter
Now Clark is making plays on defense. She knocks the ball out of play to break up an LSU attack. Soon after the inbounds pass, she gets a steal. She looks like she might pull up for 3, but Affolter is making a run through the lane, so Clark feeds it to her instead.
LSU 52-61 Iowa, 4:23, third quarter
TV timeout after Clark misses one from another zip code.
The numbers here are staggering. Clark has 31 points. Reese and Morrow have 11 rebounds each. But a lot of those rebounds came early, and the Hawkeyes have been holding their own on the glass for some time now. Addison O’Grady’s stats are modest – 2 points, 3 rebounds and a block – but she’s helping Iowa establish an interior presence that was missed in the first quarter.
LSU 52-61 Iowa, 4:35, third quarter
Johnson fouls Clark in transition. The Iowa star keeps going to the hoops, but “continuation” generally doesn’t cover 5-6 steps. More importantly, that’s Johnson’s third. She’ll go to the bench.
Another LSU foul, and now Poa has three. Clark puts up the long shot anyway, even though it won’t count. Swish.
Ball back in play. Clark steps toward the arc, steps back, shoots, swish. That’s 31.
LSU 52-58 Iowa, 5:26, third quarter
Clark misses on a 3.
LSU feeds it to Reese at the other end, and O’Grady blocks her shot. Then she blocks another, but a foul is called. Reese to the line. She misses one and hits the second.
LSU 51-58 Iowa, 6:28, third quarter
Clark has 25.
LSU squanders its first possession after the timeout, putting up an airball.
Clark dribbles up to about 30 feet from the hoops and shoots. Swish. Clark has 28.
Johnson, who has the last 10 LSU points (thanks, ESPN commentators), gets an offensive rebound and scores to stop the run.
LSU 49-55 Iowa, 8:02, third quarter
Clark twists, twirls, shoots from 800 feet, scores. LSU timeout.
LSU 49-52 Iowa, 8:31, third quarter
Johnson hits two free throws. She has 10 for LSU.
Clark answers, drawing contact on a drive to the hoop.
Iowa gets a defensive rebound and goes off to the races but blows the layup.
LSU scores.
Iowa scores.
This is looking like the first quarter.
LSU 45-48 Iowa, 9:35, third quarter
Clark opens the half with a trademark high arcing 3 from the parking lot.
Clark has the advertising advantage, though, starring in two ads in a single break during halftime.
Seems like someone should pitch an ad in which Reese catches everything around her – basketballs, books, anvils …
ESPN’s win probability shows Iowa at 52.1%. I’d still lean toward LSU here. The rebounding advantage is just too much, and Reese is having a game for the ages.
A few numbers …
Scoring slowed a good bit in the second quarter, in which Iowa had a 19-14 edge.
Iowa is still shooting 50% (17 for 34). LSU isn’t far behind at 46.3% (19 for 41).
Reese has 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. If only my fantasy NBA players would put up numbers like that.
Clark has 19 points and 5 assists. Affolter also has hit double digits already, with 10.
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