The champs are out
LSU’s title defense came to an end in the Elite 8, as the Tigers were eliminated by the very same team that they beat last year to claim last year’s championship.
Behind Caitlin Clark’s 41 points and nine three-pointers, Iowa knocked LSU out 94-87 in one of the most highly anticipated college basketball games in recent memory. Clark also added 12 assists and LSU just had no answer for her.
The Tigers and Hawkeyes were tied at 45 at halftime, but a disaster of a third quarter sunk LSU. The Tigers shot an appalling 5-26 in the third quarter. Iowa outscored LSU by 11 in the third quarter and LSU wasn’t able to get any closer than two possessions for the rest of the game.
In what may be here last game ever as a Tiger, Angel Reese flirted with a 20-20 game. Reese finished with 18 points, 20 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a pair of steals. And she did most of that with a bad ankle. The ankle that Reese rolled in the SEC Tournament got rolled against Iowa and she left the game momentarily but returned.
It’s a testament to how good Iowa is that they won this game rather comfortably. LSU scored more than enough points to win, absolutely dominated Iowa on the glass (54 rebounds to 36) and the size advantage of Reece and Aneesah Morrow led to LSU having more points in the paint (44 to 36), second chance points (14 to 5), and even fast break points (11 to 6).
LSU’s two biggest weaknesses showed up at the worst possible moment: a lack of depth and a true point guard. Kateri Poole’s dismissal from the program and Sa’Myah Smith’s ACL tear shortened LSU’s rotation down to seven players, and nobody from the trio of Mikaylah Williams/Hailey Van Lith/Flau’Jae Johnson appeared to be completely comfortable running the point. Expect that to be priority No. 1 for Kim Mulkey and her staff this offseason. Well…maybe the second biggest priority. The biggest priority, to me, is seeing if you can get Angel Reese back for one more year.
So LSU’s dreams of repeating as national champions ends one round short of the Final Four. Following up a national championship with an Elite 8 appearance is hardly a disappointing title defense and the trajectory Mulkey’s got the program on, something tells me this won’t be the last time LSU’s playing deep into March/early April.