The Game of the Century: Three Storylines of tonight’s Elite Eight matchup between LSU and Iowa

It’s the matchup everyone asked for and got.

LSU will play in arguably the biggest game in the history of women’s college basketball when it squares up with Iowa in the Elite Eight at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York at 6:00 p.m. CT on Monday.

This matchup is a rematch of last year’s national championship game where LSU won 102-85. The winner will move on to the Final Four in Cleveland, Ohio.

It will feature two of the top offensive teams in the country as Iowa and LSU are first and second in team scoring.

The Hawkeyes offensive attack will be led by reigning National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark who averages 31.7 points per game and 8.9 points per game, leading the country. LSU’s offensive attack will be propelled by Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow who average 18.7 and 16.5 points per game respectively.

Here are three storylines of one of the biggest basketball games of this millennium.

Biggest game in the history of women’s basketball?

A common theme around this game is that it might be the biggest game in the history of women’s basketball, let alone women’s college basketball.

Iowa, who is the No. 1 seed of the Albany 2 Regional has Caitlin Clark, who is one of the greatest college basketball players ever and has scored the most points of any basketball player in the history of the game regardless of gender. Whenever she plays, people watch even if it’s a school everyone expects Iowa to beat by 100 points.

LSU is the defending champions, but they have several players who have been significant in the business of NIL. Reese is worth $1.8 million and Flau’Jae Johnson is worth $1.1 million according to the On3 NIL 100. Reese is 8th and Johnson is 17th on the On3 100.

Along with Reese and Johnson, freshman sensation Mikalyah Williams and Hailey Van Lith have signed deals with all four of the biggest shoe companies in the world.

In last year’s championship game between Iowa and LSU, it was the highest-viewed women’s basketball game in the history of the sport. The game drew an average of 9.9 million viewers and a peak of 12.6 million viewers, a 103% increase from the championship game the year before between powerhouse programs South Carolina and UCONN.

Not only that, it drew more viewers than many prominent sporting events such as the 2021 NBA Finals, any NFL Stanley Cup Finals game ever and two New Year’s Six bowl games.

Because of the influence of members on both teams and the ratings and revenue they bring in, this might be the most impactful women’s basketball game of all time.

Double Standards

A common theme with Iowa and LSU is how they are portrayed in the media.

Clark, one of the most recognizable athletes in sports, is often beloved for her competitiveness and passion on the court. She is also known for her massive trash talk which has gone viral and her signature “you can’t see me” hand wave.

However, when Reese or several other members act the same way, they get criticized and called “ghetto” or “trash” by people on social media.

This was on display when Reese did Clark’s signature celebration back to her in the final seconds of LSU’s national championship victory over Iowa last season. Reese got a lot of negative from certain fans, including Barstool founder Dave Portnoy.

However, when an Tweeter pointed out that Clark did the same thing to Van Lith whn she was a member of Louisville’s squad in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Portnoy said it was “different” and then chided that individual by calling him brain dead.

To get heat from individuals on Twitter such as Portnoy is one, thing. However, to be called “dirty debutantes” by Los Angeles Times writer Ben Bloch in his article where he explained how LSU were the “villains” and UCLA were the “good guys”, that’s where the line is drawn, especially a professional who works for a major news organization.

Van Lith, who is white, talked about how the bias her teammates may face because they are black.

“We do have a lot of Black women on this team, and unfortunately, that bias does exist still today, and a lot of the people that are making those comments are being racist towards my teammates,” Van Lith said. “I’m in a unique situation where I see with myself, I’ll talk trash and I’ll get a different reaction than if Angel [Reese] talks trash. I have a duty to my teammates to have their back. Some of the words that were used in that article were very sad and upsetting.”

Can LSU stay out of foul trouble?

A key factor for LSU is that it has to stay out of foul trouble and it’s probably the only one.

Because of its lack of depth due to the early season departure of veteran guard Kateri Poole and the season-ending injury of forward Samyah Smith, LSU has been a seven-deep team for most of the season. It hasn’t been a problem for LSU for most of the season as this is one of the most talented rosters in the country with Reese, Johnson, Van Lith, Williams and Aneesah Morrow along with Last-Tear Poa and Aalyah Del Rosario coming off the bench.

However, LSU has lost a lot of key games due to LSU being in foul trouble late. The most notable example was against No. 1 South Carolina on Jan. 25 when the Tigers had the lead late in the game. Still, the Gamecocks came back due to Reese fouling and several others being in serious foul trouble.

The Hawkeyes will want to expose that by going in the lane and drawing fouls. Not only will get take people like Reese out of the game, but that generally means two free throws per foul.