Tigers Take Women’s Title
The NCAA Division I national championship game, which was shown on ABC on Sunday afternoon, was the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time, ESPN announced with an average of 9.8 million viewers.
By Earl Heath, Contributing Sports Writer
LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 to win the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball championship- Its first-ever national title. The Tigers and Hawkeyes combined for the most points in title game history, while LSU set a record for points by a team in the final.
Jasmine Carson ignited the Tigers offense. The graduate transfer had scored just 11 points in the tournament but was without a basket since the second round, made her first seven shots from the field to score 22 points and spark the Tigers before halftime.
Angel Reese a transfer from Maryland was the key piece to the Tigers historic season, went to the bench with a pair of fouls late in the first quarter.
Reese was involved in a controversial moment after the game outcome was clear she held up her hand pointing to her ring finger showing it to Iowa All-American Caitlan Clark.
Senior guard Alexis Morris who played for three Power 5 teams prior to transferring to LSU to play for Mulkey for the second time, also picked up a second foul with 6:36 left in the half. Morris came back strong with 21 points including 15 in the fourth quarter on 6-of-6 shooting. Reese set an NCAA single-season record with her 34th double-double of 2022-23, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds in 29 minutes against the Hawkeyes.
The Tigers had five players in double figures with Reese, Williams and Carson each scoring at least 20 points.
Tiger head Coach Kim Mulkey who assembled nine transfers and freshmen in an effort to “Piece It 2gether” in her second season in Baton Rouge — brought the program its first Final Four victory in six tries. She led her home state university to its first NCAA Basketball Championship and the 50th team national title in LSU Athletics’ 130-year history.
It was the fourth championship in as many title game appearances in Mulkey’s coaching career (previous wins at Baylor in 2005, 2012 and 2019), as she became the first women’s basketball coach to win NCAA championships at multiple schools.
The NCAA Division I national championship game, which was shown on ABC on Sunday afternoon, was the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time, ESPN announced with an average of 9.8 million viewers.