Caitlin Clark, an AP Player of the Year, and an All-Big South Carolina Star in the Semifinals: “It’s like a dream”
South Carolina was on a 42 game win streak and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so there was no reason to think that the march to the national championship title would not be easy.
It would take a great performance by the NCAA to topple the Gamecocks, and that is exactly what Caitlin Clark did in Friday night’s Final Four after she led Iowa to a stunning 77-73 victory.
Clark set a women’s Final Four record for points, scoring 41 in front of a rowdy crowd.
The player who became the AP Player of the Year also added eight assists and six rebounds, in addition to the last 13 points that the Iowans scored in the fourth quarter, propelling them to their first NCAA title game.
Clark said on the broadcast that all they did was believe in each other. “You know we might not be the tallest, we knew they were going to beat us on the glass but all we had to do is have some heart and some belief and you know we came through when we needed big plays and I’m just so proud of this group.”
South Carolina guard Zia Cooke tallied 24 points and eight rebounds, while star forward Aliyah Boston struggled in the loss, scoring eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field.
Angel Reese hit two putback baskets in a row to help LSU rally to beat Virginia Tech in the first semifinal game.
Trailing 59-50 after three quarters, LSU went ahead with a 15-0 run over a five-minute span. The Tigers led for the first time since late in the first half when Falu’jae Johnson had a steal and drove for a layup to make it 64-62.
LSU guard Alexis Morris scored a game-high 27 points, and star forward Angel Reese added 24 points and 12 rebounds, including a combined 20 of LSU’s 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“It’s like a dream. It still hasn’t hit me that I’m at the Final Four,” said Reese, the transfer from Maryland who carries the nickname, “Bayou Barbie.” “I don’t know if I’m even believing this right now.” It’s crazy how much my life has changed in one year.”
All of the men and women that played at LSU have left a mark on the school. When they told me that none had ever played for a national championship, I was kind of surprised, so that’s an accomplishment. Mulkey believed that that was a step in the right direction.
“I’m blessed,” Mulkey said on reaching the title game. “I came home for lots of reasons. One to someday hang a championship banner in the PMAC. Never, ever do you think you’re going to do something like this in two years.
It took LSU only two seasons to get there with the feisty and flamboyantly dressed coach, and a big comeback in the national semifinal game that was quite an undercard Friday night.
I’m never satisfied. I’m super-excited that we won, but I’m hungry,” said Morris, who jumped on a courtside table and fired up LSU fans after the game. “Like, I’m greedy. I want to win all of them so I can finish the story.
Reese had six points in the game-changing spurt, including a basket after Morris’ attempted 3-pointer didn’t go in. Reese had a second chance after Morris missed a rebound.
Virginia Tech went to the Final Four for the first time, thanks to the 18 points and 12 rebound of Elizabeth Kitley. Georgia Amoore and Kayana Traylor each had 17 points, while Cayla King had 14.
Amoore set a record for the most 3-pointers in a single NCAA Tournament with 24, though she had a tough night shooting — 4 of 17 overall, including 4 of 15 from beyond the arc. She passed Kia Nurse’s record 22 set in the 2017 tourney for UConn, which lost in the national semifinals on the same court. Aari McDonald had 22 in six NCAA tourney games.
After Amoore made her last 3-pointer, the big run started for LSU. The Hokies didn’t make another basket until King’s 3 with 1:19 left.
The Tigers and the Hokies: What came down to them, how they scored and how their cheerleading helped them knock down the ball
“I think we had a few crucial turnovers as well as missed box-outs where they scored on second-chance opportunities,” Traylor said. “I think that’s just what it came down to really.”
“They hit a couple of shots, gave them a little bit of momentum. They hit a 3 right off the bat … kind of changed the momentum,” Brooks said. They were aggressive in passing. But they were also a little more aggressive down low.
But it was the Tigers who led for 17:55 of the first half with the Hokies getting off to a slow start shooting — they missed eight of their first nine shots — that an LSU cheerleader had an assist even before they officially had a shot.
King was charged with a turnover on a ball that hit the rim and bounced over the top of the backboard and got stuck there. With encouragement from officials and others at that end, a male cheerleader lifted up a female cheerleader, who knocked the ball down.