LSU ladies win NCAA title, denying Iowa and Caitlin Clark

DALLAS (AP)-- Kim Mulkey's LSU Tigers utilized a record offensive efficiency to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 in the national championship video game on Sunday to win the first basketball title in school history.

The triumph made Mulkey the very first ladies's coach to win championship games at two different schools. She won three at Baylor prior to leaving for LSU two years earlier.

" Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I've been blessed," Mulkey said. "Never in the history of LSU basketball, women or guys, has (any person) ever bet a champion."

The feisty and flamboyantly dressed Mulkey, who wore a sparkly, golden, tiger-striped attire, now has the third-most titles of perpetuity behind Geno Auriemma's 11 and Pat Summitt's eight. Mulkey has never lost in a national championship.

" My tears are tears of pleasure," she said. "I'm so delighted for everybody back home in Louisiana."

Clark, The Associated Press national gamer of the year, couldn't lead the Hawkeyes to their first national title in spite of among the best individual efficiencies in NCAA Tournament history. The junior finished with 30 points. She scored 40 in the semifinals to knock out unbeaten South Carolina one game after she had the very first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the Elite Eight.

The dazzling guard, who grew up in Iowa, set the NCAA record for points in a tournament, passing the 177 that Sheryl Swoopes scored in 1993 en path to leading Texas Tech to the title that year. Clark ended her tournament with 191.

The 102 points broke the previous high for a championship game, exceeding the 97 that Texas scored against Southern California in 1986.

Jasmine Carson scored 22 points, Alexis Morris included 21 and Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (34-2).

" It's no one-man show around here. When I decrease, the next male is up," said Reese, who was honored as one of the most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. "Every single time, whenever I go out or Alexis (Morris) goes out, everyone always comes to step up."

Routing by 21 points early in the third quarter, Iowa started hitting from the outside to go on a 15-2 run, hitting four 3-pointers and transforming a 3-point play to get within 65-57.

When Clark was called for a technical nasty, the Hawkeyes (31-7) trailed 73-64 with 1:03 left in the 3rd quarter. She swatted the ball away on the flooring after a nasty call versus a teammate. That counted as an individual nasty for her, her 4th of the game.

" I believed they called it really, really tight," Clark stated. "Hit with a technical foul for throwing the ball under the basket-- often that's how things go."

Clark played the whole fourth quarter with 4 fouls but couldn't get the Hawkeyes much better.

" They really played well, they were prepared to go. I'm simply so proud of my group," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder stated.

After Katari Poole hit a 3-pointer in front of the LSU bench, Mulkey began weeping. A couple of seconds later after another LSU basket, Reese ridiculed Clark by putting her hand in front of her confront with a "you can't see me" gesture and then indicated her ring finger at the end.

As the last seconds ticked off, Mulkey and Reese hugged, triggering a wild celebration by the Tigers.

The video game was tight for the first 15 minutes prior to Carson fumed from the outside. She made all six of her shots in the 2nd quarter, consisting of 4 3-pointers. After among them, she tossed her hands in the air and Mulkey simulated it on the sidelines.

For excellent step, the college student guard banked in a shot just before the halftime buzzer to offer the Tigers a 59-42 lead at the break. It was the most points ever in the first half of a national championship, climaxing held by Tennessee since 1998.

" I've been working for this my whole life," Carson said at halftime. "It feels excellent to lastly show it on this stage."

LSU shot 58% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including going nine for 12 from behind the arc. The Tigers completed the video game shooting 54% from the field, consisting of making 11 of 17 3-pointers.

Clark had 16 points and five assists before picking up her 3rd foul with 3:56 to go in the half, which didn't go over well with the sellout crowd of more than 19,000 fans that consisted of very first lady Jill Biden and Billie Jean King, who sat together in a high-end box.
Prior to this game, Carson had actually gone scoreless in five of her 7 postseason games in her career. She had 11 points in this NCAA Tournament before Sunday.

It was high-scoring very first quarter despite there being a great deal of interruptions since of foul calls, which made getting into an offensive circulation more difficult. Clark had a huge first quarter, scoring 14 points, but Iowa trailed 27-22.

Carson banked in a 3-pointer prior to the buzzer.