The LSU Tigers are the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national champions.
The Tigers took down the Iowa Hawkeyes (31-7) 102-85 in the national championship game as the teams wrapped up the Final Four at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday.
“I’m just — I’m super happy for the program first … I mean, I had so many goals coming into LSU, but I didn’t think I was going to win a national championship within my first year at LSU,” forward Angel Reese told the media after the game.
LSU shot 54% from the field (65% from three) and had five players in double figures, setting a final record for points.
Iowa played good defense in the game’s early stages, building a 7-3 lead off two LSU turnovers.
After a tightly contested first quarter, LSU settled down and used a 32-point second quarter to pull away behind an 18-6 run and 16 points from Jasmine Carson, who hit her first seven shots of the game and five three-pointers.
Iowa dealt with foul trouble throughout as AP National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark picked up three fouls in the first half and had to sit for the final three minutes before the break. LSU outscored the Hawkeyes 10-3 with Clark on the bench to take a 59-42 lead into the locker room.
Iowa’s defense returned in the third quarter, holding LSU to 33% shooting and allowing the Hawkeyes to cut the lead to seven with a 15-4 run — capped by a Clark three.
Trailing by nine as the third quarter drew near its end, Iowa’s Monika Czinano was called for a common foul, and Clark was called for a technical foul, which gave LSU four free throws and a chance to reclaim momentum.
“We got it to seven points in the third quarter. Man, I felt good right then,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said in a press conference after the game. “I really did. I felt like, ‘Okay, we got this.’ Then, of course, we have the foul, the technical foul, that stuff, and it just gets out of hand at that point.”
LSU stretched its lead back to 14 with a 6-0 run early in the fourth as guard Alexis Morris stepped up, scoring 15 of her 21 points in the final quarter.
Iowa fouled to extend the game, and a few late shots from LSU found a way to go down and seal the championship win.
Clark finished with 30 points for Iowa, while Reese was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
WHAT TO KNOW
— LSU wins its first national championship in program history in its sixth trip to the Final Four. The Tigers are the third three-seed to win the national championship, joining North Carolina (1994) and Tennessee (1997).
— Head coach Kim Mulkey leads the Tigers to the championship in just her second season at the helm. It is her fourth national title in as many tries.
–Clark’s technical foul was the result of a previous warning against the Hawkeyes for a delay in the game, according to the Associated Press.
— Members of the 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class were honored at the end of the first quarter. Among them were former WNBA star and current WNBA coach Becky Hammon, former NBA All-Star Pau Gasol, and Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki.
— The 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament broke the all-time attendance record set in 2003.
BY THE NUMBERS
— The Tigers finish the season 34-2 with their only two losses coming against South Carolina. They are 60-8 over the last two seasons.
— The 32 points scored by LSU in the second quarter and the 59 points in the first half were also finals records.
— Iowa took more three-pointers than two-pointers during Sunday’s game. The Hawkeyes shot 50% overall and 47% from beyond the arc.
— LSU outscored Iowa 30-8 in bench points and 34-24 in points in the paint.
WHO SAID
— Clark on Iowa’s NCAA Tournament run
“We made history, and there’s a lot to be proud of. There’s a lot to reflect on these last couple weeks. I’m just thankful that I got to be on this journey with these people.”
— Mulkey on winning the championship at LSU
“I don’t know if it’s the mere fact that we’re doing this in my second year back home. I don’t know if it was the fact that I am home. I don’t know if it was looking across there at my daughter and my grandchildren. I don’t know if it was looking across at LSU. I don’t know what it was, but I lost it. So that should tell you what I think about it. Very, very emotional and tears of joy.”
NEXT UP
— Both teams head to the offseason with the potential to have strong seasons again, as many players will be returning.