What makes Caitlin Clark so talented on the court? We asked Lynette Woodard
We asked women’s basketball legend Lynette Woodard what makes Caitlin Clark so special.
The women’s NCAA tournament is into the last day of the Elite Eight with star-studded matchups and one doozy of a rematch: No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 3 LSU. We all remember how it went in last year’s national championship game, LSU pulling out a win that included plenty of trash talk from stars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. The night cap is JuJu Watkins and No. 1 USC against Paige Bueckers and No. 3 UConn.
Women’s March Madness games tonight are airing and streaming on ESPN. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest news, scores, analysis and more all day. Follow along.
STREAM: March Madness on ESPN+ and Fubo
Here is the full schedule for Monday night’s NCAA women’s tournament games. All games air on ESPN.
USA TODAY’s experts are split. Lindsay Schnell has Angel Reese and LSU topping Caitlin Clark and Iowa once again. Nancy Armor has Clark and the Hawkeyes getting the better of Reese and the Tigers.
Caitlin Clark and top-seeded Iowa takes to the court today in Albany, New York, against No. 3 LSU. They tip off at 7:15 pm ET.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are favorites to defeat LSU in Monday’s March Madness matchup, according to the BetMGM college basketball odds.
- Spread: Iowa (-2)
- Moneylines: Iowa (-130); LSU (+110)
- Over/under: 168.5
How to watch Caitlin Clark and Iowa vs. LSU
ESPN will air Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes against LSU in their Elite EIght game.
How many points has Caitlin Clark scored?
As Iowa’s Caitlin Clark continues to rewrite the record books, USA TODAY Sports is tracking all her stats during the NCAA Tournament. Here’s everything you need to know about the superstar guard. Here is an in-depth, illustrated look at the Iowa star and her race to the all-time NCAA Division I scoring record.
Iowa vs. LSU rematch is March Madness must-see TV
Cover your ears and eyes and put your tender sensibilities aside because Iowa and LSU are about to go at it again.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Epic trash talking and even better basketball. A grudge, errr, rematch a year in the making.
If you’re not clearing your calendar for Monday night, you obviously don’t like sports. Or fun. This is the biggest game of March Madness, men’s and women’s tournaments. It would be better if a national title was at stake rather than just a trip to the Final Four, but you take games like this whenever, and in whatever round, you can get them.
Read Nancy Armour’s full column.
One year after LSU and Angel Reese knocked off Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women’s national championship, a game that featured logo 3s and trash talk, the two teams will meet again. It’s another contrast of styles, a matchup sure to draw eyeballs: Iowa likes to score from the perimeter, LSU pounds it in the paint. And this time, there’s a Final Four trip on the line.
Top-seeded Iowa, led by the reigning and presumptive player of the year, will meet third-seeded LSU Monday at 7 pm ET in the Albany 2 regional championship. The winner will advance to the Final Four in Cleveland.
LSU is trying to become the first back-to-back champs since UConn did it in 2016, and Iowa is trying to reach its second consecutive Final Four for the first time. Here’s everything to know about tonight’s LSU vs. Iowa rematch. — Lindsay Schnell
I’m picking LSU in this one. Yes, Caitlin Clark is a tremendous player. But she can’t win this game by herself, and LSU knows it. The Tigers also know that outside of Clark, the best scorer in the history of college hoops, LSU is superior at every position in both athleticism and skillset.
That’s especially true in the paint, where LSU is tough and experienced. Iowasophomore Hannah Stuelke’s improvement this season has been more than impressive, and she’s proven herself a worthy replacement for former All-American Monika Czinano, who graduated after last season. But Stuelke is no Angel Reese. — Lindsay Schnell
Caitlin Clark and her teammates are saying all the right things about Iowa’s Elite Eight game with LSU. How last year’s title game was so long ago they don’t think much about it. That it’s not really a rematch because both teams are different. Don’t buy it for a second.
As competitive as Clark and Iowa are, you know darn well they’ve replayed that game in their minds about 12 million times by now. Thought about what they could have done differently and what they would do differently. Recalled it anytime they haven’t felt like practicing or hitting the weight room. Agonized about how close they came to winning the prize that everyone who plays this game wants.
That’s some powerful motivation, and it’s why I think Iowa will win Monday night.
“Anytime you have a chance to go up against somebody you lost to, it brings a little more energy,” Clark said Saturday, acknowledging the obvious. — Nancy Armour
LSU’s Angel Reese might get more attention for her antics and her off-court accomplishments − an NIL deal with Reebok, an appearance in the SI Swimsuit issue − but don’t forget about her on-court accomplishments. She is a flat-out baller, a walking double-double (18.7 points, 13.2 rebounds) who challenges opponents and responds to being challenged. She knows a lot of the discourse surrounding LSU has painted the Tigers as the villains of women’s college hoops (a lazy and mostly racist take) and she relishes in proving people wrong. — Lindsay Schnell
Kim Mulkey has long been college basketball’s most colorful and controversial figure and has, for almost as long, prompted a level of vitriol among the media that borders on the unprofessional.
Some of it she brings on herself. She says, does and wears things that shock and offend. She frames things to suit her purposes, including her claim following Saturday’s game that she didn’t know the Washington Post story had been published despite being asked about it before the game.
Even when it would help her — clarifying her relationship with Brittney Griner, for example — she refuses to explain or edit herself. But none of that justifies the delight and commitment there seems to be in trying to take Mulkey, and now her current players, down a peg.
“Since the national championship, we ain’t had peace. And it’s crazy to say that. That we won at the highest level in college and we haven’t had peace,” Angel Reese said. “But I wouldn’t want to change this day. I wouldn’t want to change where we are right now.”
Read Nancy Armour’s full column.
The way Flau’jae Johnson sees it, the formula is simple: If you want to be the best, you’ve gotta put in the reps.
For Johnson, LSU’s stellar sophomore who scored 24 points in the Tigers’ Sweet 16 win, those reps come on and off the court.
In Pete Maravich Assembly Hall, it’s not uncommon for the 5-foot-9 guard for third-seeded LSU to spend an hour or more after practice getting up extra shots.
And in her “off” hours − a comical phrase given that Johnson could very well be the busiest person on LSU’s campus − the established rapper with a Roc Nation record deal will sit in her car writing lyrics. Read Lindsay Schnell’s full feature on LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson.
Some big-name celebrities, in and out of the sports world, expressed their excitement for the enthralling doubleheader Monday night in the Elite Eight.
“The NCAA got it right, because tonight’s women’s tournament matchups are one of the best in history!” Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the former Laker and Michigan State Spartan https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/1774855204892237903?s=20. “There is star power on all four teams, great coaching, and all have outstanding storylines on how they made it to the Elite Eight! As a basketball fan and a fan of women’s sports, this is heaven for me!”
Dwyane Wade of Marquette and Miami Heat fame wanted to make sure he had his rest before the games started, https://twitter.com/DwyaneWade/status/1774873169029161066?s=20: “It’s only 11am PT!?? If I close my eyes and take a nap. How fast will 4:15 come
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