ALBANY, N.Y. — It’s felt like Iowa and LSU have been on a collision course for a full 12 months now, ever for the reason that groups clashed within the nationwide championship and one very well-known basketball participant taunted one other very well-known basketball participant on the finish.
So, on Choice Sunday, when the choice committee unveiled the ladies’s NCAA Match bracket, and we noticed that these two groups may meet once more — this time within the Elite Eight — all of us instantly circled it. Many people crammed out our brackets in hopes that our picks may assist it come to fruition, regardless of how tough each groups’ paths can be to get right here.
After which we obtained it. We obtained the dream matchup with a Ultimate 4 berth on the road. A heavyweight combat, a rematch, one other legacy-making second. Reporters debated whether or not it may break the mammoth girls’s basketball TV viewership report that the final assembly in Dallas had set. These of us right here in Albany twiddled our thumbs and impatiently counted down the minutes to tipoff, hoping towards all odds {that a} recreation with a lot hype may really stay as much as it.
After which it did.
With a 94-87 victory fueled by 41 factors from Caitlin Clark, the Hawkeyes are again within the Ultimate 4.
IOWA IS HEADED TO THE FINAL FOUR.
The No. 1 Hawkeyes take down No. 3 LSU 94-87 to achieve consecutive girls’s Ultimate 4 appearances.@IowaWBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/uYrRYET5v0
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 2, 2024
Iowa got here out swinging, led by the primary of 9 Clark 3s and a breakneck tempo of play. LSU needed to soak up the punches and set up its submit play by way of Angel Reese. Then the Tigers went on their run, and Iowa needed to reply.
“Basketball is often a recreation of momentum swings, and also you’ve obtained to make yours experience so long as you may and hold on throughout theirs,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder mentioned.
She noticed one thing in Clark’s eyes as her Hawkeyes got here again out after halftime, recreation tied 45-45, one thing that advised her Clark can be launching pictures from wherever she wished to on the courtroom. Bluder has seen that look. She is aware of that Clark’s vary isn’t confined wherever within the constructing. She watched Clark land one other punch — a deep 3, her third of the night time — to offer Iowa the lead in the beginning of the third quarter. The Hawkeyes would by no means relinquish it.
Clark saved taking pictures, and he or she saved hitting. By the point the ultimate buzzer sounded, she additionally had 12 assists and accounted for 67 of Iowa’s factors (71 p.c), tied the NCAA Match single-game report with 9 3-pointers, broke the NCAA Match report with 140 assists and have become the primary participant with three 40-point match video games. She ended up three rebounds shy of a triple-double in a recreation that everybody on each sidelines knew basically can be received or misplaced by her.
CLEVELAND!!!!!!!!!! FINAL FOUR!!!!! HAWK FANS LETS GOOOOOO🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) April 2, 2024
She did all that in a recreation wherein Reese performed by way of a bum ankle, almost posted a 20-20 double-double and gave it all the things she had till she ran out of fouls to offer. They did all that in a recreation wherein Flau’jae Johnson hit massive pictures and dazzled defensively, almost single-handedly conserving the Tigers within the recreation through the Hawkeyes’ third-quarter barrage of buckets, and Iowa captain Kate Martin scored 21 factors, every one coming at simply the precise time.
In the end, the Hawkeyes avenged their championship loss. They lower down each nets and doused their coach in confetti, and Clark ended her night time with a chunk of the web tucked into her baseball cap and a giant smile on her face.
It’s too quickly to know what the viewers ended up being for Monday’s masterpiece of a basketball recreation. It additionally doesn’t matter all that a lot as a result of the 2 groups met the second, and everybody who watched that recreation is aware of they witnessed athletic excellence. If 7 million individuals noticed it, that’s 7 million individuals who noticed a fantastic recreation. If 8 million individuals tuned in, which means much more individuals selected a great way to spend their Monday night.
“Irrespective of which means it went tonight, I do know this was going to be an evening for the ages,” Reese mentioned.
“It was an honor to be in that second,” added LSU guard Hailey Van Lith.
Clark understands the magnitude of one thing like Monday night time, too. So lots of her video games have set so many viewership information. However when she’s on the courtroom, she doesn’t really feel these additional eyeballs.
“There may have been no one within the fitness center, and each groups would have competed the very same means,” Clark mentioned. “You’re enjoying for just a little extra with the Ultimate 4 on the road, however to me I’m not considering, ‘Oh my God, there’s 15 million individuals at residence watching this recreation proper now.’”
So, she saved specializing in what she wanted to do to beat LSU. Her teammates did, too. And that’s what they did, lastly, a 12 months after they couldn’t and didn’t.
That’s what we’re drawn to as sports activities followers. That’s what was so compelling about this matchup — effectively, past these emblem 3s and no-look passes, which we additionally take pleasure in. We love stars who shine brightest on the largest stage, and we obtained that in spades and in punches exchanged.
On Monday night time, we obtained all that and extra. It’s a rarity on this life that what we really get is so a lot better than what we wished within the first place. For that, I’m eternally grateful.
(Photograph of Caitlin Clark: Scott Taetsch / NCAA Photographs by way of Getty Photos)